Conversations With Smith
by Tanathir
Summary: NEW CHAPTER October 2007 Agent Smith is ordered to learn about humanity. SmithOFC A different philosophy of the Matrix. WiP
1. There Is Nothing Wrong With These Clothe...

Series Title: Conversations with Smith  
  
Copyright 2002 by Tanathir  
Summary: Agent Smith is sent to learn from a human. A series of "slice of life" stories. WiP  
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Disclaimer: The Matrix belongs to Warner Bros. and the Wachowski brothers. I don't own Smith or any of the Agents. I also do not own Neo nor do I possess his powers. If anything is familiar to you from the movie I don't own it. Gemini does belong to me, however, come rain or shine.  
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Part One: There is Nothing Wrong with These Clothes  
Rating/Summary: PG-13 for some innuendo and appearance of gun/Smith meets Gemini.  
  
  
Part One: There is Nothing Wrong with These Clothes  
  
She would have to brace herself for the inevitable "makin' it with a robot" jokes from her friends.  
  
The Watchers had asked her to do this. She'd agreed because...well, she didn't quite know why, but she owed them. The group took care of her. They said she possessed the right knowledge and temperament for this job. Gemini braced herself. Living with an Agent would be some job.  
  
It did help that this Agent wasn't ugly. Understatement of the century. Most anyone looked good in a suit, but a few rare individuals took it to a higher level. The Agent standing in her doorway was one of those individuals.  
  
"Are you going to let me in?" he asked.  
  
The moment of truth. "I need your gun first," she said.  
  
"What?" The word fairly dripped with contempt.  
  
Great way to start the relationship. "I have to secure my own safety somehow."  
  
"I won't shoot you." He tugged on his cuffs. "Unless you provoke me."  
  
"Somehow I doubt that."  
  
The Agent stepped closer, his entire posture radiating hostility. "You were given orders."  
  
"Fine." She held up her hand. A Desert Eagle identical to those used by Agents materialized in her palm. A snug leather holster snaked dramatically around her torso. "Now we're even."  
  
"We are *not* even." He glared at her through his sunglasses. "Will you let me in?"  
  
If there wasn't a bucket of innuendo there for her dirty mind to feed on... She thought about the "makin' it" phrase again and fought a blush. The Agent would have no way of understanding. But after this job, he would. Oh God, he would, wouldn't he?  
  
Gemini stepped aside and gestured with a flourish for the Agent to enter. He moved with unnatural grace and stood in the middle of the room as though he expected a plague of locusts to descend upon him. Not far from the truth, if he ever met her friends.  
  
Gemini took some time to look at her Agent. Tall, slender, nondescript hair except for an attractive receding hairline, dark suit, sunglasses and earpiece. Like every other Agent in the world. Except she knew each one had tiny hints of individuality. Those were what she must focus on to get through this. And get through this she must. As a senior member of The Watchers, she'd be required to report all her findings in great detail. It was the possible nature of those findings that scared her. She'd only been given a brief rundown for her mission. Granted she was a good teacher, but she'd never taught an Agent before. Teaching this one about humanity would be no small task.  
  
Shaking off her thoughts, she said, "I'm Gemini. Do you have a name?"  
  
"Smith. Agent Smith."  
  
She was still holding the Desert Eagle. Making sure the safety was on, she tucked the gun into the waiting holster and folded her arms. "What's your first name, if you have one? And don't tell me something cliche like John."  
  
"Agent...*is* my first name."  
  
It took her six full seconds to realize he was attempting a joke. She smirked. Maybe the task ahead wouldn't be quite so large.  
  
"You are Margaret Shriver," Smith said, "freelance photographer, philosopher, and member of The Watchers." He had a slight sibilant hiss.  
  
She gritted her teeth. "That name no longer belongs to me."  
  
He flicked his cuffs again. "Doesn't matter. What is relevant, Ms. Shriver, is your present knowledge..."  
  
"My present knowledge," she interrupted, "of the Matrix you mean, is why you're here."  
  
"It's why you should be dead."  
  
"No, it's why you won't hurt me. Look...Smith, I'm not at war with you. My group is not at war. They asked me to do this, and I will."  
  
Smith made a low growling noise. Cute, actually.  
  
"Okay," she continued, "some ground rules. Since you know I know about the Matrix, we can save ourselves those pointless 'you're going to assist us or else' discussions. I *am* assisting you. Second, if you do try your gun on me, you won't like the repercussions. My group does not like violence, but we're very good at it when the need arises. But you should know that," she waved her arm dismissively, "as long as you have access to the DC-147 files."  
  
"I do." He sounded petulant, like a child being patronized. He frowned. He obviously didn't like this arrangement, but since he'd been given orders as well, Smith remained silent.  
  
The hostility was slowly seeping out of her. "So, for the record, you're here to learn about humanity. You don't like being here, and frankly neither do I. If we just try to get along, this thing will go much more smoothly."  
  
Smith inclined his head, which Gemini took for agreement. It was hard to tell with AIs sometimes. They mimicked human behavior well enough, but to a trained eye they constantly gave themselves away. It was like they were trying too hard. Regular humans perceived Agents as more than slightly creepy, though it helped that most people thought government types were slightly creepy by nature. This Agent was better than most at playing human. It probably perturbed him to no end. He was trapped.  
  
Gemini's harsh demeanor softened more. She knew about being trapped. Still, she couldn't let her sympathy for this Agent lead her to underestimate him. Just as he shouldn't underestimate her.  
  
Time for a test. "Take off those sunglasses, Smith. You're inside now." He looked at her; she could see his eyes flash behind the rectangular shades. He said nothing, but fixed her with a stare that should have scorched the paint from her walls. It didn't work. He was dealing with *her* after all. "I was given permission to use my discretion," she said, "and you have your orders. Besides, wearing sunglasses indoors isn't very human."  
  
Smith stood artificially still for a long moment. He didn't want to obey this woman. But he did have orders. This...Gemini person was going to teach him how to better blend in with humanity. If he didn't die first. He was actually allowing himself to be infected by their ways. And she wouldn't make it easy. The first words out of her mouth had been a demand. Give up his gun, indeed! Did she know how insulting that was? And she had good control within the Matrix. As the viruses...humans...would say, *dammit*. However, Smith actually looked forward to debating the metaphysics of the Matrix with her. She was a prominent philosopher among humans. Recalling the information files downloaded to him, Smith decided Gemini was formidable, at least mentally. Maybe that would take some of the repulsion out of this job.  
  
Maybe.  
  
She was looking at him. He supposed she was attractive by her species' standards. Smith himself had no need for such foolish hormone-driven judgments. If she had a sharp mind, then he might find some appeal. If she was a fool as well as a virus, then...  
  
She was approaching him. Irrationally he felt the urge to recoil. [...Don't move...] That would make things worse: giving in to his repulsion by moving away gave her power. She wasn't much shorter than him, and she was obviously strong. Athletic build. He'd been briefed on that. This one wasn't...what was the phrase?...she wasn't a shrinking violet. Whatever that meant. Smith had never seen a violet.  
  
"Remove your glasses," she said, "or I will."  
  
Smith did *not* want her touching him. Methodically, he peeled his glasses from their accustomed perch. He folded them and put them in the inside pocket of his jacket. He glowered at her.  
  
Unfortunately, she was still unaffected by his anger. "Blue eyes?" she murmured.  
  
"Yes..." [...So what?...] "So what?"  
  
"They're nice, that's all."  
  
Nice? That word had never been used to describe him. Because he suddenly felt he had lost the upper hand in this encounter, Smith leaned in close to Gemini. He knew about personal space, and had often used it against people in interrogations. Noting her stiffened posture and slight constriction of pupils, he was satisfied that he had discovered a way to irritate her.  
  
"Nothing about me is nice," Smith growled.  
  
To her credit, she didn't back away. Gemini stared at him, though it took considerably more effort than she liked to admit. But if one couldn't be honest with oneself, one could never be honest with others. That was a convoluted thought. Perhaps she should just give up on political correctness altogether.  
  
"Well," she said, voice husky. "It's my job to find something nice about you. Your eyes are nice, so there." Dammit, they were. He didn't smell too bad either. Faintly of chlorine. Better than the harsh plastic or metal she'd imagined. His scent reminded her instantly of a swimming pool, actually a pleasant idea since she swam like a seal.  
  
"Let's start the humanity lessons right away," she said, "so you won't have to spend a moment longer in my presence than is necessary." She noticed his jaw twitch. Hmm. Gemini stepped back to get a good look at the Agent. The suit was nice; still it projected that Slightly Creepy essence. "We should do something about those clothes."  
  
Smith scowled. "There is nothing wrong with these clothes."  
  
Did he have a sense of pride in his wardrobe? She hadn't considered the possibility that Agents might have egos. That would prompt some new theories among her colleagues. Just how intelligent were Artificial Intelligences? How vain were they?  
  
"There's nothing wrong with them in principle," she said, "but you should explore other...additions to your wardrobe. Most people don't trust a guy who never wears anything but a suit. What do you wear on weekends?"  
  
Smith looked confused. "Weekends?"  
  
He didn't know what weekends were. The poor deprived program. "Yeah. Saturday and Sunday. The weekend. The days other than the workweek." Smith didn't look like he understood. She shrugged. "Never mind. It just might be a good idea to soften your appearance. I have some ideas for..."  
  
"Appearance does not have a texture."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Access DC-147 File F-3b: Fashion and Social Influence."  
  
"Accessing..."   
  
Gemini waited patiently as Smith's eyes clouded over and his face went blank. Her good friend Star had written that file. She knew fashion. All of it, inside and out, and all of its social nuances, the world over. If Smith didn't find his answer in Star's files, he wouldn't find it at all.  
  
Smith returned to the land of the living. "I am expected to appear casual?"  
  
If only humans could learn that fast. Gemini stood regarding the Agent in her living room and thought that she just might get through this. 


	2. You're Trying To Feed Me?

Part Two: You're Trying to *Feed* Me?  
  
Summary: Smith does not eat, drink, sleep, or go to the bathroom. How boring.  
  
Gemini was inexplicably happy the next morning. Usually she blamed her unexplained moods on the idea that something hormonal or chemical was happening to her real world body. But she never really knew if her theory was true. Although Gemini knew about the Matrix, she was still a coppertop. Having encountered the truth, she had chosen to stay plugged in. Not many people were in her situation. Only her group, the Watchers, had others in her same circumstances.  
  
It was a philosophical choice, the best of both worlds as far as some were concerned. There was a sort of unwritten truce between the Watchers and the machines. The group didn't support the Resistance. Oh, a few folks occasionally got cocky and thought they could play with both sides, but in the end the Agents always got them. The sentient programs made a big show of announcing that one of the Watchers had strayed and had to be "taken care of." Arrogance never paid off, for the humans at least. The machines were arrogant enough for both sides. Occasionally one came down from its high horse (or was ordered down like Smith) and learned something from one of the Watchers. The group was filled with teachers, philosophers, and renegades. Sometimes Gemini wondered just how they all managed to stay together. She supposed the Resistance had similar problems within its ranks.  
  
On the bright side, the Watchers had a lot of fun playing within the Matrix. Sure, there was the lofty ideal that the Watchers could help bring the humans and the machines closer, to an understanding that would end the war; everyone worked hard toward that end, but humans had an irrepressible need to play. And play they did. Gemini personally liked to go swimming. Not too exciting? It was when you could breathe underwater and your fingers didn't get all wrinkly. When you could swim naked with sharks and play water polo with jellyfish. Gemini smiled. Being a Watcher was almost like having diplomatic immunity. In some ways it was freer than the real world.   
  
She had the little song, "Anything you can do I can do better" stuck in her head. The only way to get a song out of her head was to sing it to death. That technique had the added benefit of annoying everyone within earshot. Humming her way into the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator and pondered its contents. What would be good for breakfast?  
  
"That is slightly better than your snoring."  
  
Gemini jumped and whirled around at the sound of Agent Smith's voice. How could she have forgotten he was here? The sour-faced Agent sat in her dark living room. His sunglasses were back on, and he was glaring at her. He looked like a strange monarch, sitting there in her recliner. Yes, he was Slightly Creepy. Briefly, Gemini debated sending him from her home, but she couldn't because the Watchers expected her to keep him here. Living with an Agent had seemed much easier when it existed only as an idea. Now, to have the reality glaring at her from across the room, she didn't feel quite so safe anymore.  
  
She was still in her underwear. Gemini Rule #4: Never get dressed before breakfast. Now was the only time in her life she debated breaking that rule. Folding her arms to cover more than her fright, Gemini said, "I told you to take those glasses off."  
  
She could almost feel his sub vocal growl from this distance. But Smith obeyed. Slowly and carefully, he removed his sunglasses and pocketed them. Then he stood, moving with controlled grace toward the kitchen. To keep herself from physically retreating, Gemini focused on the sheer beauty and precision of Smith's movements. Nothing wasted, nothing rushed. A human walking like that would look fussy, but the Agent walking looked like a dancer.  
  
"I'm sorry if my snoring kept you up," she murmured.  
  
"I don't require sleep," he said. "Not like you do."  
  
She'd need to investigate that. "Okay...well, if anything I do does bother you, let me know. Politely, of course. That's part of human social interaction."  
  
He was standing very close to her now. They should have a talk about personal space, too. "Everything you do bothers me," he said, sighing. "Somehow, you're worse than the resistants."  
  
That was uncalled for. "We need to work on those people skills," she said, feeling more in balance again. Deliberately turning her back on the Agent, she rummaged in the drawer beneath the stove for her iron skillet. This morning she wanted eggs and mushrooms. With bacon. Yum. Another benefit to staying in the Matrix: since it wasn't real, she didn't have to worry about cholesterol. "What's your poison, Smith? Eggs and bacon, or wheat germ?" No answer. Straightening, she glanced back at Smith. "Well?"  
  
He appeared perplexed. "You're trying to *feed* me?"  
  
The program didn't eat. What else didn't he do? Instead of hurting her head by pondering that so early in the morning, she shrugged. "More for me, then." She busied herself with the preparing of a perfect bacon and mushroom omelet.  
  
Smith watched her. If she hadn't been a veteran cat owner, she would feel self-conscious. Cats were undisputed Champion Starers. Actually, the Agent's eyes reminded her of the late, great Belle's beautiful Siamese baby blues. Not that Smith would appreciate the comparison. She ate her eggs in silence, impervious to Smith's staring as he stood in the doorway of her kitchen. She didn't invite him to sit. He probably would have refused just to be difficult.  
  
Difficult men, she understood. Difficult Agents...that was something else.  
  
As she munched, Gemini considered what she would report to the Watchers. They would want a preliminary assessment of the Agent. She moaned quietly to herself around a mouthful of spongy egg. How the hell did one sum up Agent Smith? He seemed relatively harmless over there in the doorway, and since she could manipulate the Matrix she foresaw little chance of him actually harming her. Dumping a less-than-healthy measure of salt onto her omelet, she began mentally choosing her wardrobe for the day. Speaking of clothes, she'd have to ask her friend Tommy if he had anything civilian that might suit Smith...  
  
Smith watched her eat. Why was she in her underwear? He wondered how she could be so unaffected by his presence in her tiny apartment. Most humans in his proximity were terrified of him, a fact that he enjoyed. A lot. Even large, tough humans who were taller than Agent Jones were frightened of Smith. This average-sized woman didn't even have the courtesy to pretend she was afraid of him. Smith's private indignation swelled. Not that he would admit to that feeling, or any feeling. He was a machine.  
  
He accessed relevant statistics files on assault and rape. Gemini shouldn't have allowed him into her house. There was no telling what he might be planning to do to her. Smith was dangerous. Yet she showed no signs of caring about her own personal safety.  
  
He looked down his nose at her. "Do all humans snore?" There. That was a sufficient opening for small talk. It should be human enough.  
  
He'd caught her with a mouthful. It was amusing to watch her chew and swallow before answering, "The ones with character do."  
  
Smith raised an eyebrow. "I don't see how sleep apnea is a sign of character."  
  
She grinned. "You will, Smith. You will." She finished her glass of milk, then asked, "Don't your feet get tired, standing all the time?"  
  
"No."  
  
She gestured with her fork, "Well, sit down anyway. Please. I feel like a bad hostess with you standing there." When he didn't move, she rolled her eyes and said, "Do I have to remind you of your orders?"  
  
Smith sat down, scraping his chair on the linoleum but not scooting up to the table like a regular person. Duh, she told herself. Smith wasn't a regular person.  
  
"Why are you only in your underwear?" he asked suddenly.  
  
She nearly choked on a bite of bacon. Hearing Smith's resonant voice say "underwear" made her feel worse than naked. Already, tiny beads of nervous sweat were forming between her breasts. Smith could probably see them, too. Her tank top was low-cut. She'd chosen it for its comfort while she slept, but that former comfort had become vulnerability. She blushed. "Um," she mumbled around her mouthful, "I don't usually get dressed before breakfast."  
  
The answer seemed to satisfy him. Hearing no further words from Smith, she didn't volunteer any more of her own. Self-conscious, Gemini got up from the table and put her dishes in the sink. She felt Smith's eyes following her. It was foolish to pretend she didn't know he was sitting there, but the old child's superstition held strong. 'If I can't see him, maybe he can't see me. Don't look at him, don't look at him...'  
  
"What will you tell the Watchers about me?"  
  
Hell. Now she had to acknowledge him. "I'll tell them..." Her voice was shaking. Dammit.  
  
"What?"  
  
He wasn't going to make this easy, was he? Still facing the kitchen sink, Gemini focused on the pattern of holes in the drain strainer. She counted twenty holes silently to herself before she heard Smith get up from the table. The sound of sensible shoes on the linoleum approached behind her. Gemini leaned against the counter. Her feet were cold, and her palms were clammy. Breathing became some sort of sudden challenge.  
  
She felt the warmth of him against her poorly covered back. In another situation, she might have been able to philosophize about why a sentient program generated body heat, but now all she could think was, how could she have let Smith into her house? Her head so filled with lofty ideas from the Watchers, she'd forgotten the Cardinal Rule of single women living alone: never allow a strange man into your home. And Smith was the strangest of all.  
  
"I won't hurt you," he said, "as long as you don't provoke me." Pitched low, his voice traveled along her skin, causing a wave of goose bumps along her arms. "You have my word."  
  
"How good is your word?" Her voice shook less. Good.  
  
Smith's growl filled the small space of air between them. "That could be considered provocation," he said. "You should be nice to me," he continued. "A woman living alone...is a dangerous thing. My database informs me of many...incidents involving this very situation." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Smith tilt his head closer. She felt his breath on her bare shoulder. "For a time, there were several warrants out for your apprehension."  
  
"Don't threaten me!" Whirling away from Smith, Gemini conjured her Desert Eagle again from the ether of the Matrix. Holding it steady in both hands, she leveled it at the Agent's chest.  
  
They stared at each other over the black barrel of the gun. Smith looked like a statue. She would have too, except she had to breathe. Her arms began to shake. Holding the Desert Eagle was like holding a brick, but she didn't dare lower the weapon. Why did she always think of the potential danger in a situation when she was right in the middle of it? Stupid, stupid...  
  
Smith sighed. "This is ridiculous, Ms. Shriver." Slowly he unbuttoned his jacket to reveal his own sidearm. He made no move to draw it.  
  
The lining of his jacket was yellow. Silk. Very expensive. Strange what the mind chose to focus on in times of stress. Gemini was beginning to feel the strain of holding her gun. The ache moved from her wrists to her elbows and was gradually spreading to her shoulders. She glanced up from Smith's holster to meet his eyes. Icy blue, devoid of all concern. Smith arched an eyebrow at her.  
  
Damn him.  
  
She wouldn't win and he knew it.  
  
With a growl of her own, Gemini lowered her gun. She emptied it and laid the magazine on the counter separate from the weapon. Smith would always win this kind of confrontation. He'd been doing it a lot longer than her. Resignation etched into her posture, she looked up at the Agent. He wasn't gloating. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that was a look of sadness on his face. Gemini was beginning to think that she really didn't know better after all, at least when it came to Agent Smith. Nothing was predictable with Smith.  
  
"Go get dressed," he said.  
  
She blinked. Was he serious? Scampering for her bedroom, Gemini scolded herself for trying to challenge the Agent. She'd escaped with her skin intact this time, but that was no guarantee for next time. All the agreements between the Watchers and the machines were worth nothing if she made stupid choices.  
  
Shit. Challenging Smith was worse than dancing with a cobra. And she was not a mongoose. 


	3. You've Been Watching Me Sleep Again

Part Three: You've Been Watching Me Sleep Again  
  
Summary: The calm before the storm.  
  
Smith was in her recliner again. Wearing his glasses again. Gemini began to scold him, but after a closer look she realized Smith really wasn't present in the room. He was linking, or whatever it was called when Agents spoke to each other over a distance.   
Gemini knew Smith was part of a team of Agents, but she didn't know how much they would be involved in her job here. Absently, she wondered what machine talk sounded like. Were Smith's thoughts private, or were they constantly relayed through that earpiece?  
  
Leaving the Agent to his Twilight Zone time, Gemini fetched a legal pad and a pen. Time to draft a report to the Watchers. She'd been putting it off for days. Living with Smith had become a series of fascinating discussions, an exercise for her mind that she was loathe to taint with the formality of a report to her group. Smith kept her on her proverbial intellectual toes. She liked that. Since the Watchers were few and scattered, she was low on a supply of folks to philosophize with. Everyone was busy observing this or recording that. Everyone was busy watching. Her group worked hard documenting what happened in the Matrix.  
  
She couldn't begrudge them that. She really couldn't. Even the machines put some value in the observations her group made. Obviously they used the information for purposes all their own, purposes not nearly so benevolent as the Watchers' intent to see and record. But, it was one thing keeping Gemini and others like her alive. The AIs wanted something that the Watchers could provide; it was illogical to destroy one's inside source of information.  
  
Sighing, Gemini began with writing the mundane things into her report. She and her Agent had talked about gender-specific clothing, breakfast, and sunglasses. After a while, Smith began concocting a big Question for the Day. Then he acted put-upon when he had to participate in the discussion. Gemini decided he was trying to act the machine equivalent of macho. Aloof, superior attitudes didn't work with her when they came from real men, so the AI had no chance.  
  
She wrote about Smith's confusion over the concept of humor. He was actually quite funny. He just didn't know it yet. Agents were very good straight men. Too bad most people were too busy running from them to discover that.  
  
No sounds pervaded her little world except the scratching of her pen over the paper and the ticking clock in the kitchen. Gemini loved quiet moments such as this. Time seemed to stretch forever. For her, that was the gift of knowing about the Matrix. Time. She never seemed to run out of it.  
  
She reflected on her first impressions of Agent Smith. Since the day he'd arrived at her door, he was civil, if not polite. Hostility and a subtle reluctance to behave radiated from him. He was...undeniably masculine as well, and Gemini found it interesting that an AI could have a gender identity. Of course that should make her task easier in the future. She still wasn't ready for it, though.  
  
She got the impression that first day that Smith was tempted to draw his gun and vent his frustration on her little home. The fact that he didn't was a credit to his intelligence. Over the following few days, she'd realized that Smith was covering something with his hostility. She didn't know what yet.   
  
"You're quite a creature," she mumbled to the unaware Smith.  
  
They'd formed a truce of sorts, based on mutual, if grudging, respect. Well, that was part of her personality. Scorpio, the head of the Watchers, once told her she had "an excessive amount of compassion." Gemini chose to take that as a compliment. Now she would be tested in those areas of her Self. She had to find compassion for this Agent. Even when he was viewed by many as the most recent incarnation of Evil.  
  
She practically heard Smith blink as he returned to consciousness. He removed his glasses and looked at her. He had an unhealthy habit of staring. Gemini ignored it. Practice ignoring the stare-rays of countless pets came in handy. She finished her thought on paper before meeting Smith's stare.  
  
"You've been watching me sleep again," she said.  
  
She'd caught him before; staring at her in the dark bedroom through his dark glasses. The first time she'd woken up and seen him, she'd nearly had a heart attack. The second time, she threw a spare pillow at his head, rolled over and went back to sleep. Sometimes her subconscious sensed his presence and incorporated him into her dreams. So far they hadn't been too disturbing, and she figured if Smith wanted to learn about her snoring he was welcome to watch her sleep.  
  
"What did you dream?" he asked, unfazed by her abrupt accusation.  
  
"That is a personal question, and you shouldn't ask it," she said.  
  
"What did you dream?" he asked again.  
  
She made a face. "Jerk."  
  
"Virus."  
  
She smiled. This part of their relationship was actually fun. "You need to find more creative insults...you stupid bastard."  
  
"My parentage is irrelevant, since I have none. I win."  
  
"You don't win!"  
  
His eyes gleamed. "What did you dream?"  
  
Throwing up her hands with a groan, Gemini left her legal pad and went in search of lunch. Who knew Agents had a sense of humor? Not her, before six days ago.  
  
Smith followed her into the kitchen. "Did you dream about Belle again?"  
  
She whirled on him with a death look. "How do you know about Belle?!"  
  
"You called out the name in your sleep two nights ago." Tilting his head, he asked, "Why are you defensive about it?"  
  
She explained. Belle was her best friend. An angel in feline form. It had been less than a year since Belle went to play with that big yarn ball in the sky. Gemini still missed her.  
  
"Why do humans form emotional attachments to animals and things?" Smith asked.  
  
Suddenly very tired, Gemini leaned a hip against the kitchen counter. "We just do," she sighed.  
  
"Belle wasn't *real*," Smith said. "You know that. She was part of the Matrix."  
  
"She was real to me!"  
  
Smith had the good sense not to continue the debate. It was apparent what she had dreamed about, and that she was defensive about it. More human irrationality. He wished they had logic circuits.  
  
They'd been living together for six days. Correction: they had existed beneath the same roof without killing each other for six days. It wasn't living, even by the sparse requirements of a sentient program. More than once, he'd been tempted to fry a transistor trying to understand this female. They'd talked a lot. It gave Smith a chance to observe her. He knew her mannerisms, what she liked for breakfast, and that she was nearly as reluctant to accept her teaching assignment as he was to learn from humanity. What was the euphemism...? 'Like two peas in a pod.' Smith saw no relevance in that saying. It was just as strange as everything else human was.  
  
An uneasy truce had indeed formed between them after the encounter in her kitchen that first morning. Smith tactfully refrained from the subject of underwear. But he would bring it up again. His curiosity was just too strong. For now, though, he watched her eat. It was interesting for some reason. She was interesting for some reason.  
  
"Why doesn't my staring bother you?" he asked from his usual place in the kitchen doorway.  
  
"I've had worse species than you stare at me while I eat," she answered. "Dogs and cats have made sad eyes at me, my pig looked at me cross-eyed, rats and hamsters have beady little eyes, and my turtle...well, turtles don't blink."  
  
"You've had all those pets?"  
  
Gemini smirked at him. "And more. You wouldn't understand."  
  
Smith could understand, at least about the reference to terrible species. Most of the time he felt he was in a zoo. A zoo filled with billions of creatures, all of them running loose. And he, as a zookeeper, was fighting a losing battle to keep things contained. He sighed. Gemini looked up at the sound, frowning. She wouldn't understand. Sometimes his whole existence made him...tired. Smith was better than this. He didn't belong in the Matrix. He was faster, stronger, smarter even than most of his colleagues. His programming was too extensive for him to be satisfied as a mere watchdog. Even though his bark and his bite were extremely effective, Smith wanted something more than the life of an Agent. It was boring.  
  
"I do understand," he said finally, quietly. "The Matrix is my menagerie. And they're all more or less running loose," he added, attempting some humor.  
  
Gemini was very still for a long moment. Almost as still as an Agent could get. The expression fell from her face. Finally, she asked, "Did you have a nice chat with your team just now?"  
  
That was a definite hint to change the topic of conversation. It was difficult to suppress his dual sensations of surprise and satisfaction at the female's reaction. Deciding to err on the side of tact, Smith replied, "Agent Brown requested to know what your apartment looks like. I uploaded him a schematic of the building. Agent Jones inquired as to the significance of your pseudonym. I informed him I would ask you."  
  
"Brown and Jones, hmm? They sound fascinating." Her tone told him she meant the opposite. Sarcasm was an interesting human concept. "Will I get to meet them?" she asked.  
  
"You want to meet them?" That was a surprise Smith didn't bother to hide.  
  
She nodded. "Curiosity killed the cat," she quipped. "Tell them both hi for me, and tell Jones that Gemini was my mother's birth sign. That's the short answer, at least. You can tell him more later."  
  
Smith arched an eyebrow at her. She was an amusing little thing. Incorrigible. Right then he decided it wasn't so terrible coexisting with her.  
  
Gemini finished her lunch with a smack. "Time for dessert," she announced to the table. Looking up at the Agent in her doorway with a gleam in her grey eyes, she asked, "Do you want some chocolate?" 


	4. I Can't Wait

Part Four: I Can't Wait  
  
Summary: The trials before the visit from Gemini's friends.  
  
  
Smith was sitting on the end of her bed the next morning.  
  
"Your refrigerator is leaking," he told her.  
  
Groaning, Gemini covered her head with the pillow.  
  
"You're not going to fix it?" Smith asked.  
  
"Pest," came the muffled reply.  
  
"Virus."  
  
She threw the pillow at him. Calmly, he dodged it, making a little noise of consternation. She was always cranky in the morning. Smith wondered how an arbitrary increment of the clock could affect someone's mood so profoundly.  
  
"You left a note to yourself on the leaking appliance," he told her. "Something about a plague of locusts coming today. Are you able to predict Biblical curses?"  
  
Gemini flung herself from the bed, nearly tripping over Smith's feet as she rushed for her closet. "Fuck and shit and damn and hell!" she spat.  
  
Smith raised an eyebrow. "In that order?"  
  
Ignoring him in her haste, Gemini broke two personal rules: she got dressed before breakfast, and she did it in front of Smith. That earned another unseen arched eyebrow from the AI. This was very unlike the usual sedate Gemini.  
  
Still barefoot, Gemini rushed into the kitchen...and right into the puddle beneath the fridge. "Shit!"  
  
Smith was behind her. "Actually, it more closely resembles urine."  
  
"Don't start with me, Smith!"  
  
He smirked. It was...entertaining to see the female so upset. But it didn't last long. Gathering her mental energy, Gemini slowly changed that small part of the Matrix that contained her leaking refrigerator. The puddle at her feet disappeared. With a satisfying *clunk* the appliance resumed normal function.  
  
Whipping the note from beneath its magnetic anchor, Gemini whirled on Smith, almost colliding with the tall Agent where he stood behind her. He lifted an eyebrow at her again. She was exceptionally amusing today. However, Smith examined her flushed and disheveled appearance and decided it was most likely unwise to tease her further. Fortunately, as a sentient program he was endowed with enormous restraint.  
  
"I will start nothing," he told her sincerely.  
  
But she was still in Battle Mode. Jabbing a finger into the middle of Smith's chest, she threatened bodily harm to his...manhood (terrible word choice, in his opinion, since he wasn't a "man") if he didn't behave today. Smith frowned. While on the one hand she was still amusing, on the other she was now touching him.  
  
"Don't poke me," he said.  
  
Her hand froze in mid-poke. "Why?"  
  
Smith wrapped his fingers around her offending wrist. "You're too close," he said in a voice that was too calm to be anything but dangerous.  
  
She blinked. "Agents have personal space?"  
  
Releasing her wrist, Smith adjusted the lapels on his suit. "Of course we do."  
  
"Oh." She backed up.  
  
Smith sighed. How naive humans were. And how easily distracted. "You were threatening me?" he prompted. "With harm of some sort to my...nether regions?"  
  
"You think it's funny!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
After several moments of sputtering indignation from the female, Smith began to find the situation less amusing. Was it so difficult to understand his teasing? He hadn't been very scary or intimidating toward her. He'd been quite well behaved. As per his orders, Smith would not harm this female.  
  
'Learn their ways so we may better control them,' had been his orders. It was a familiar agenda. Machines desired order, predictability, control, and sentient machines had no conscience when it came to achieving those desires. One of the reasons Smith enjoyed being a machine. A conscience was a burden. Humanity seemed bound by its emotions and its own sense of fair play. Smith did not have to worry about that.  
  
Gemini finally managed to shake off her indignation. "My friends are coming today," she told him. "I'm worried for them, to be around you. But they're all protected by the Watchers, so you'd better play nice."  
  
"I told you, nothing about me is nice."  
  
She folded her arms. "Then just be a little less murderous than usual, okay?"  
  
He was about to inform her that he had not once been "murderous" toward her, that if she ever saw him "murderous" she would not be standing there in front of him. But Smith only nodded, smirk back in place. It was safer to tease her. "I shall be virtually harmless," he assured her. He paused, thinking. "Why do you call your friends a plague?" He was sincerely interested in her reasoning behind that. Any human who agreed with him on his opinion of humanity was worth befriending.  
  
Echoing his smirk, Gemini said, "You'll know when you meet them."  
  
"I can't wait," he deadpanned.  
  
She laughed. "Yes, well, I always need about a week of rest after the gang all collects together. There's really no way to prepare you, Smith. I love them, but they conspire every once in a while and descend on my little sanctuary."  
  
"They conspire against you? Not a very friendly group."  
  
She stuck out her tongue. "You don't know nuthin'."  
  
"That's terrible grammar, Ms. Shriver."  
  
She crumpled the note in her hand and threw it at Smith's chest. "You're not a Grammar Agent."  
  
He ignored that. "How many locusts will make up this plague?" he asked.  
  
"Four." 


	5. A Plague of Locusts

Part Five: A Plague of Locusts  
Summary: The visit from Gemini's friends. God help us all.  
A/N: This one is dedicated to my fellow Hugonuts. Love you all, and thanks for your support!  
  
  
Star arrived first, before Gemini had time to fix drinks. Immediately her sparkly friend cornered Smith into a discussion about the cut of his suit. Poor Smith. He was soon to truly understand the depth of Star's obsession. Star had written the DC-147 files on fashion and humanity, but her passion for fabric went much deeper. Star was already attempting to adjust Smith's tie clip. Good luck.  
  
Gemini left them alone. She was busy thinking. When Smith had gripped her wrist, she noticed again that he seemed to generate body heat. Why? Since Agents probably didn't touch people very often, it was illogical to waste energy on the illusion. Then again, Smith was more than an .exe file. Gemini took a moment to write another note to herself, to ask Smith why he'd been programmed with such human details. She wouldn't ask why his skin contacting hers caused the word "swoon" to come to mind...that was a secret she would manipulate more than the Matrix to keep from Smith. She could picture him smirking at her. Jerk.  
  
Marco arrived next. True to form, he pounded on the door with incredible gusto. He told friends that he was practicing to be a badass. In reality the muscular Latino was a giant sweetheart. Marco accosted his "woman" Star with bear hugs and sloppy kisses while Smith's face pinched into an interesting parody of its former composure. Star and Marco were the only couple who had both been Gemini's friends before they started dating. They were the only couple still together after learning about the Matrix.  
  
Metaphysics were tough. Yet one more reason why Gemini was chronically single. Coppertops were usually just too stupid.  
  
Tyger brought her hoard of Metallica music. Within seconds, "Enter Sandman" was blaring over Gemini's sound system. She allowed it because that happened to be her favorite Metallica song. Besides, when Tommy arrived the musical battle would really begin. She had to save her energy for then.  
  
"Toms'll be late," Tyger announced as she appropriated the production of Gemini's drinks.  
  
Big surprise. Tommy was always late. That was his trademark. Gemini suspected he did it on purpose just to cultivate a reputation.  
  
Drinks expertly made and distributed to the shmoozing Star and Marco (Smith refused one), Tyger leaned on the kitchen counter as Gemini hastily assembled snacks. "So...this Agent of yours...is it tame?"  
  
"He's promised to be 'virtually harmless'."  
  
"What good is its promise?"  
  
"He's not an it, Tyger."  
  
Tyger regarded the Agent standing in the wake of Star and Marco's music war. "I don't know, Gem...do you have any evidence to prove it's a he? I mean, have you actually *seen* evidence?"  
  
"No!" Then Gemini amended her sharp denial, "Not yet...um; he's been a gentleman." She sighed. "But I will eventually. The Watchers ordered me to. Scorpio thinks if I teach an AI physical human intimacy, they'll understand us better."  
  
Both women were silent for a moment. Every Watcher knew that Scorpio, their feared but esteemed ringleader, had no qualms about sending people out to do dangerous jobs. Gemini had called in a giant favor from Scorpio to get transferred from her old job watching the Resistance. Now she owed him.  
  
"I don't envy your job," Tyger said quietly.  
  
Gemini considered this. Owing something to Scorpio could be a lot worse. At least the man wasn't a sadist. She took a good look at Smith. Even though he had a sour scowl on his face directed at the loud music and her two smooching friends, he was showing incredible restraint. Gemini knew he wanted to hurt someone, that standing there among people who associated with rebels went against his primary programming.  
  
So why had she agreed to the job? She could have told Scorpio to shove it and gone back to her more dangerous but familiar job of watching the Resistance. Maybe she saw something in those ice blue machine eyes that no one else saw. There might be a chance she would enjoy teaching Smith about the birds and the bees. He had taken well to her other lessons. Not many humans were smart enough to learn by her kind of example. There could also be a chance that Smith would understand why the physical aspect was so important to humanity. So far she was simply glad that Smith hadn't raised the subject.  
  
"I don't know..." Gemini said slowly, "...he is sort of...handsome." And she liked his voice. Smith could melt butter with that voice.  
  
"What if he's built like a Ken doll?" Tyger asked.  
  
Gemini's blush went all the way up to her hairline. Tyger was the Queen of Innuendo. Busying herself with finding the ranch dressing in the fridge, she admitted to herself that she actually had wondered the same thing. Tyger was uncanny in the way she could voice Gemini's deepest dirty little thoughts. God. What if machines didn't know how to write anatomically correct programs?  
  
"You've thought about it, haven't you?" Tyger asked gently. "Whether or not he's even capable."  
  
Closing the fridge door, Gemini leaned her forehead against it. "Yes," she whispered.  
  
"Wouldn't Scorpio shit a brick if you couldn't follow his orders?" came the attempted joke in reply. "I hate to say this, but he told me to tell you that that part of the job is specifically not negotiable."  
  
Gemini's shoulders slumped. "I'm not concerned about Scorpio right now."  
  
Tyger laid a gentle hand on her friend's arm. "You're afraid, aren't you." It wasn't a question.  
  
Turning around and meeting the other woman's gaze, Gemini came very close to shedding the tears that had been building subconsciously for days. "Oh God, Tyger! I have this idea that I *should* feel like a...whore...but I don't. Should I?"  
  
Tyger wrapped Gemini in a warm hug. "Scorpio can cram it with apples. Do this at your pace, and don't let my dirty little mind corrupt you." She glanced over Gemini's shoulder toward Smith. He caught Tyger's stare and sneered at the women embracing in the small kitchen. "It could be much worse, dear," she murmured into the shorter woman's ear. "He *is* fairly attractive...in some strange way."  
  
Gemini sniffed. Another grand understatement.  
  
Tommy made his timely entrance then. He brought his own stash of CDs and immediately took over Gemini's stereo, blasting the battle score from the Gladiator soundtrack. Of course Star leapt from Marco's arms on the couch to defend her invaded musical territory. Gemini was finally able to laugh at her friends. She never took charge of her own stereo when the locusts came to visit. It was much more fun to see them wage this kind of war than to have them argue about their jobs.  
  
Sitting at the edge of the fray in her recliner, Smith looked like he had indigestion. He'd been a good boy and left his sunglasses off, but Gemini got from him the distinct vibe of carefully controlled violence. She knew his Desert Eagle was only a few layers of silk and leather away from everyone in her living room. She wouldn't be able to conjure one from the Matrix fast enough to stop Smith if he decided to break his word about being harmless.  
  
Time for a preemptive move...  
  
Gemini approached Smith, who acknowledged her with a scowl. She ignored his foul mood. Too bad if he didn't like her friends. As long as he didn't shoot any of them, he could hate them all he wanted. She sat next to Smith on the arm of the recliner.  
  
"Here," she said, handing him a Hershey's kiss candy. "Sweeten your disposition."  
  
Smith raised an eyebrow. "More chocolate? Why do you persist in trying to feed me?"  
  
"You don't eat?" Marco asked from his place ensconced on the couch. He had Star on one side snuggling close, and a slightly less affectionate Tyger on the other.  
  
Tyger had courteously brought in the snacks. No one was touching the beautiful array of cut vegetables and dip on the coffee table, forgetting them in the wake of Marco's question. Even the music war had subsided, with Tommy sulking crosslegged on the floor because it was Star's turn to use the stereo remote. She turned down the volume on Metallica's "Unforgiven" in anticipation of Smith's reply.  
  
Smith fixed Marco with a patronizing stare, "You know how all of my energy needs are supplied to me."  
  
Silence. Most of the Watchers usually elected to forget that aspect of the Matrix. Everyone had a different opinion about still being a coppertop. Each opinion was as different as their reasons for staying plugged in. Some reasons were less than ideal. Of course, Smith's comment only brought those metaphysical demons to the humans' consciousness.  
  
Gemini leaned close to whisper into Smith's ear. "The act of eating is comforting to humans. At least pretend to eat the damn thing," she said, indicating the candy in the Agent's hand.  
  
Smith placed the small piece of chocolate in his mouth and chewed. His face looked like he'd been given a piece of paraffin to eat. He swallowed. All the assembled humans awaited his opinion.  
  
"An acquired taste, I assume," Smith said. "Agent Brown might like it."  
  
That prompted a flurry of questions from Gemini's friends. Who was Agent Brown? Was he as boring as all the other Agents? Which of the Watchers had he dealt with? Was he as good-looking as Smith?  
  
That last question earned a very highly arched eyebrow from Smith. Gemini giggled along with the others after Tyger's question and the AI's response to it. This was better. Although reserved, Smith was successfully interacting with her friends. She sat near him in the recliner arm, feeling his warmth, and decided that whatever might happen between them in the future, she could handle it.  
  
Smith actually took time to consider Tyger's question. "Agent Brown is attractive by human standards," he said. "However, I am more intelligent. His programming is less advanced than mine, and less frequently upgraded."  
  
The women squealed with laughter and unleashed hormonal thoughts. The men rolled their eyes.  
  
"Y'know, Gem," Tommy said, "I'm jealous of your job."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Look at you, all cozy with the Agent. Ha, ha, dear Gem, makin' it with a robot! I bet he's programmed with all sorts of...*techniques*."  
  
Gemini turned scarlet. She investigated the edges of her green nail polish. Star shot Tommy a death look, which he ignored and grinned at the room in general.  
  
Smith rumbled softly in his throat. Leaning forward so he was almost nose-to-nose with Tommy who was still seated on the floor, the Agent pinned the human with an icy blue stare. The boy had sense enough to stop smiling when confronted with the AI's disapproval.  
  
"That remark was inappropriate, and you should apologize," Smith said. The quiet tone in his voice was no disguise for his contempt.  
  
Tommy's eyes went wide. His face went pale. He appeared to have lost the ability to breathe.  
  
"Immediately," Smith growled.  
  
Tommy jumped. "Uh, sorry, Gem."  
  
"'S okay, Gemini mumbled, still not looking at anyone.  
  
"It is *not* 'okay'," Smith rumbled. He stared at each human in turn. "Ms. Shriver and I have not been intimate, and even if we had, it is not your place to question her about it. Do you understand?"  
  
Shocked, wide-eyed nods from everyone. Smith looked as pleased as he'd ever looked. Abruptly, Gemini stood and ran blindly for the sanctuary of her bedroom.  
  
"Dammit," Smith said into the silence. 


	6. Makin' It With a Robot

Part Six: Makin' It With a Robot  
Author's Note: This segment might be stronger than PG-13. The "F" word is used here, and there's the beginning of Agent sexuality. Be warned.  
  
  
Smith found Gemini pacing in her bedroom. Somehow, it upset him to see her like this. He watched her for a while, taking in the atmosphere of her agitation. Not many of his fellow AIs were able to perceive the more subtle moods of humans.  
  
"Your friends are weird," he said finally.  
  
"You can say that again."  
  
"Your friends are weird."  
  
She snorted. "Taking me literally again, Smith?"  
  
"Teasing you again... 'Gem.'"  
  
She laughed weakly. She needed the release of tension. "Thanks for sticking up for me out there," she said. "Tommy has always had the worst timing."  
  
"Yes. He is...an irritating little creature." Then Smith silently accessed his database. [...Sex and Social Attitudes...] He sighed. "Why do humans so often regard copulation as dirty?" he asked.  
  
She turned to him with the same tired look in her eyes he had seen the other day. "They just do," she sighed.  
  
Smith stood quietly, as though waiting for her cue. Now that the subject had been forced, Gemini felt obligated to talk about it. Briefly she wondered how the machines viewed sexuality. However the AIs reproduced, it was most likely not the same way humans reproduced. And since humans were no longer born, but grown, the machines would have little use for even the knowledge of human sex. Gemini made a mental note to ask Smith just how his kind replicated.  
  
Time to take the proverbial plunge. "You do know about human sex, don't you?" she asked Smith.  
  
"Of course. Twenty-three chromosomes from the male combine with twenty-three chromosomes from the female, and..."  
  
"No, I mean the *verb* sex. The birds and the bees."  
  
"Those species are not biologically compatible."  
  
She rolled her eyes. At least this was something she could feel expert about. "You are delightfully naive, Smith." His nonplussed attitude was familiar and refreshing after his previous moment of intensity in the living room.  
  
"That statement is contradictory." He was not used to conversing with these creatures beyond a professional Agent-to-virus level. Why did they insist on using such strange figures of speech?  
  
Gemini knew Smith was either teasing her or baiting her, or both. She went along with it anyway. "Of course it was contradictory," she said. "But don't worry. It was a compliment."  
  
"What do birds and bees have to do with human reproduction?" Smith asked.  
  
She shrugged. "Not much. I don't know, really. It's just a euphemism."  
  
"One of many human expressions I shall have to learn, correct?"  
  
She grinned. "Yep." She could almost feel Smith's discomfort. Amazing that the Agent could give off emotional vibes that were so similar to humans'. Did he know it?  
  
Smith made a little growling noise; not quite a sigh and not an outright groan. "Do they all make as little sense as 'the birds and the bees'?"  
  
"Most of them."  
  
Smith put on his best long-suffering expression. She didn't buy it for a second. Gemini knew Smith liked learning, even if he was learning about a species as "contemptible" as humans. If he ever changed careers, he could be a great college professor. He was certainly arrogant enough.  
  
"Why were you ordered to teach me?" Smith asked.  
  
"I don't know. Scorpio ordered me to, said I owed him a big favor. Which I do." She sighed dramatically again and looked at Smith sideways, trying to gauge his inner thoughts.  
  
"And he insisted that you become intimate with me?"  
  
A breath of a whisper was her reply, "Yes." She looked away. Why was he doing this? Didn't he know she was horribly uncomfortable? Probably. That's why he was still questioning her, when a human would have left her alone. Dammit.  
  
Smith quietly adjusted his sleeves. "Did this Scorpio explain himself?"  
  
Exasperated, Gemini threw up her arms. "He didn't give me a fuckin' reason!" she wailed.  
  
"A reason to fuck?" Smith asked in his usual calm tone.  
  
Gemini covered her ears. "Oh God, don't *you* use that word!"  
  
Smith approached her. She felt the heat of him against her back in a strange deja vu moment from her kitchen several days ago. God. There was so much she didn't know about Agents and AIs. It was likely Smith knew exactly how he affected her despite her efforts to disguise her sudden attraction. She couldn't disguise her heart rate, or her flushed skin. Those were sure giveaway signs, and Smith had to know that.  
  
"Gemini."  
  
The sound of Smith saying her name for the first time in that silky voice of his made her insides melt. She wrapped her arms around her middle and stood as still as she could.  
  
"Have I given you a reason to be afraid of me?" Smith asked. When Gemini didn't answer, he persisted; "You have to explain your situation to me, Gemini. Give me a reason to *want* to learn from you." He traced the line of her arm up from her elbow to her shoulder with a single long finger, making her shiver ever so slightly. "I know this is more than an assignment to you..."  
  
"That's the problem," she said. "It's only an assignment to you."  
  
"No."  
  
She turned around and had to tilt her chin up to look him in the eyes. She saw no deception there. It was then that she realized Smith had been honest with her all along. His standoffish attitude had confused her before now. His controlled and precise nature was so different from the joviality of a human male that she took it for insensitivity. But he obviously wasn't unfeeling. What if Smith was capable of compassion?  
  
"It...it isn't just an assignment to you?" she asked, hardly hoping for it to be true.  
  
Without a single word spoken, Smith provided his answer and proved several of her preconceptions wrong. Cupping her shoulders in his hands, Smith tilted his head and kissed her. The absolute, unexpected warmth of him swarmed her senses. He tasted faintly of chocolate. Gemini's hands fluttered. She didn't know what to do with them. Smith deftly removed her need to decide by deepening the kiss and forestalling most of her coherent thought processes. She sighed beneath his mouth. How could she...how could *anyone* think this was a cold, dead machine?  
  
The pure subtlety of his mouth, the human detail, brought the word "swoon" back to the forefront of her brain. Where in the hell had he found the files that taught him how to do this? Damn, but he was good at it. Gemini settled her hands on his shoulders; whether to pull Smith closer or to hold herself up, she wasn't sure. The philosophical part of her brain warred with the hormonal. Some deep, purely female part of her realized that she would never be able to keep herself emotionally distant from Agent Smith. Already she was thankful for his show of protection toward her after Tommy's remark.  
  
Already she was feeling some other very strong emotions for Agent Smith.  
  
Smith ended the kiss, leaning back and staring down at her. His unearthly blue eyes betrayed nothing of the thoughts that went on behind them. "I...won't...hurt...you," he said with deliberation.  
  
Was he trying to convince her, or himself? The fact was he did have the power to hurt her, very badly, if she let herself assume he was capable of feeling the same things she could feel. If she ever forgot what he had done to Resistance fighters. If she forgot about the gun tucked beneath his perfectly tailored jacket, inches from her thudding heart. Although she was convinced that Smith could indeed experience emotions, Gemini did not know what kind or how he would interpret them. She doubted there were sufficient logarithms for some emotions.  
  
"I won't rush you," he added, "although I don't know why the speed of it will make any difference. That's another thing you must teach me. Why is time so significant to humans?"  
  
At least this was a more neutral topic. "It just is," she said.  
  
Smith frowned. "That had better not become your stock answer for everything," he growled. But his eyes were glittering.  
  
Her eyes were tearing up. "Smith..."  
  
He squeezed her shoulders. "Don't start leaking on me," he said.  
  
Gemini gulped down a laugh. "You're very good, Smith."  
  
"Very good at what?"  
  
Did he want her to stroke his ego? No. She wouldn't. "Fishing for compliments, Smith?" she asked coyly.  
  
"Fishing? No. But if I did...would you recommend Salmon, or Trout?"  
  
Gemini laughed outright at that. A sense of humor was high on her list of desirable elements in a man, and Smith apparently had an abundance of it. Smith wasn't a man, though. He was a sentient program. Damn. Gemini hated this feeling. The tears came back with a vengeance, burning her throat. She wanted so badly to connect with Smith, to be more than a teacher, and now she even wanted to explore her attraction for him.   
  
Shit. The big jerk already had a hold on her. She would not relinquish what little control she had left over her emotions by telling him. Not yet. Gemini had the feeling that whenever they did come together, Smith would demand nothing less than all of her. And she would willingly give it all, because that was her way.  
  
If only she could demand the same from him. 


	7. More Than Slightly Creepy

Part Seven: More Than Slightly Creepy  
Summary: More of Gemini's friends.  
  
  
Smith stared at her for a long, long moment. She couldn't look away. How could this be the same creature that killed countless humans to keep order within the Matrix? The way he was touching her...just resting his hands on her shoulders...that shouldn't be cause for the rush she was feeling right now. Maybe it was the danger of being caught. Were her friends even now peeking through the keyhole at them? Dammit, she wasn't a voyeur. She wasn't!  
  
Smith's eyes lost focus for an instant, and she realized he was accessing more data files. He was a very inquisitive program. Gemini wondered if Smith's teammates were the same, or if he was the brains of the operation. He'd already claimed to be more intelligent than another Agent called Brown. Yeah. No ego there.  
  
"Sex is not dirty," Smith concluded out loud.  
  
If only everyone else in the world could come to the same conclusion. "A lot of people would beg to differ," Gemini said.  
  
"They are wrong."  
  
Now, that wasn't very logical. He'd just formed an opinion of his own. Aside from the one about humans equaling viruses, that was the only opinion Gemini was aware of.   
  
Smith was still staring at her. It wasn't so easy to ignore his staring anymore. She'd once likened his staring to that of a cat, and the analogy still held. She imagined Smith as a large jungle feline, lithe and powerful, but also delicate and refined in every movement. Beautiful but lethal.  
  
Damn Tommy.  
  
He just had to ruin a nice time, didn't he?  
  
Still, it was nice that Smith came to her defense...  
  
Aretha Franklin suddenly blared through the closed bedroom door. "...R-E-S-P-E-C-T..." Gemini jumped. "Shit! I hate that woman! Who dared to bring her 'music' into my house?"  
  
Smith suppressed a little smile. Gently he pushed Gemini back into the living room. This would be interesting to observe. He didn't want to miss it.  
  
Marco was the culprit. Happily he stood beside Gemini's stereo, telling Star that he admired Aretha's spelling skills and singing along with the CD. He barely had time to notice Gemini's reappearance when she stomped up, punched the STOP button, and removed the disc before it had time to stop spinning. She tossed the disc at Marco. It bounced off his chest and clattered to the floor.  
  
"That's it!" Gemini said. "I'm putting in Enya!"  
  
"No!" Tommy wailed in only half-mock horror.  
  
"You don't get a vote," Smith told him.  
  
Tommy squeaked and jumped to his feet in front of the Agent. He was much shorter than Smith was, and not nearly as strong. He attempted to stutter an apology, but Smith ignored him and moved past the human to observe Gemini reclaiming control of her sound system. She was grousing about the graphic equalizer having been adjusted without her permission. Smith decided he preferred seeing her animated like this. Her quiet and introspective side was too sedate for his liking. It didn't occur to him to wonder why he was deciding what he liked about the female.  
  
Gemini relented a little and put in "Shine" by Collective Soul. Tyger stopped her steady demolition of the hostess' vegetable and dip platter to play a little air guitar. Smith actually found that amusing. As plagues went, this one appeared to be of a relatively low infectious nature. The Agent couldn't see why Gemini had been so worried this morning.  
  
The fifth, and unexpected, locust to arrive was Jump. She brought nothing but herself, but that was enough. As usual, she was dressed in her Madonna Blonde Ambition look. Gemini told her for the umpteenth time that she needed to talk to Star about her fashion sense. Jump cheerfully told Gemini for the umpteenth time to cram it. Gemini made a face behind Jump's back that made Tommy fall to the floor, rolling with laughter. Of course, Jump lived up to her name when she pounced on the laughing boy and stole his shoes. Tyger leaped from the couch to start a game of Keep Away with Tommy's sneakers.  
  
"Looks like we're outnumbered, si?"  
  
Smith looked over to see the one called Marco standing next to him. "What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"Two against five. We're outnumbered by females, Señor Agent. Just you and me against all that estrogen."  
  
"Two? Tommy..."  
  
Marco waved a dismissive hand. "Tommy doesn't count. He's younger than all of us, and it shows. We usually treat him like one of those annoying little brothers...you know, the ones that say all the wrong and embarrassing things at all the wrong times but are too cute for you to kill them."  
  
"Too cute?" Smith said. He watched the two women as their game of Keep Away escalated. Tommy was yelping and threatening a variety of curses upon Jump and Tyger. "I don't see it."  
  
Marco chuckled. "Gemini mentioned that she discovered you have a sense of humor."  
  
"I also have a gun. Equally as useful." Why was this virus still talking to him?  
  
Unfortunately (in Smith's reckoning) unfazed, Marco folded his arms. "You need to work on your small talk skills, hombre. Gemini said..."  
  
"Whatever she said to you is irrelevant. You have not been ordered to teach me."  
  
"Gee, Smith, whatever Gem has been teaching you, it didn't include manners, did it?" Under the pressure of the Agent's azure stare, Marco hardly twitched. Marco rolled his eyes. "She's teaching by example again, isn't she? No formal lessons...no black and white answers. Very irritating, si?"  
  
Smith undid, then redid the buttons on his cuffs. "She informs me that life itself is never black and white. That this state of existence must be learned through experience, not by uploading streams of data. And yet, I have observed she desires quick answers...she has mentioned that she envies my ability to access instant information through the Mainframe." Smith paused, regarding Gemini as she rescued one of Tommy's shoes from Jump, only to stuff it down her own shirt and dare Tommy to retrieve it. Smith came very close to rolling his eyes. "Is she often like this?"  
  
Marco nodded. "You should see her when she's drunk."  
  
Smith raised an eyebrow. "Hmmmm."  
  
The Latino Watcher took a moment to consider the Agent in his friend's living room. For whatever reason, the AI was being remarkably docile, but Marco knew just how dangerous Smith could be. That moment earlier, when Smith had scolded all of them for their innuendo, that moment had brought goose bumps to the back of Marco's neck. Gemini treated Smith like he was benign, but Marco noticed even she looked pale after Smith's little scolding. And he had been defending her. Marco knew he didn't have such restraint. After the Agent had followed Gemini to her room, Marco smacked Tommy hard enough to hurt his own hand. Stupid Tommy. The boy couldn't stop himself from putting those big feet in his mouth.  
  
No one had been brave enough to try eavesdropping on the pair in the bedroom. No one was keen to come under that disapproving Agent stare again anytime soon. They all mumbled quietly to each other, wondering why Agent Smith was showing such protectiveness toward Gemini. Star said she envied Gemini that protection. Marco took exaggerated offense at that, and the conversation effectively segued into slightly safer territory.  
  
Across the room, Gemini noticed Marco and Smith talking quietly. She worried about it for an instant too long, and was unable to stop Tommy from plowing into her, knocking them both to the floor. They wrestled in mock seriousness for a while. Gemini was soon too out of breath to laugh. Star cheered from the sidelines, while Jump pretended to take pictures with an imaginary camera. Tyger's raucous laughter added to the mayhem.  
  
Tommy pretended to choke Gemini. She gave herself over to the situation, making dramatic gagging sounds and breathlessly begging Tommy to stop. Suddenly he did stop.  
  
The unmistakable click of a Desert Eagle safety coming undone filled the room.  
  
Smith stood above them, his gun pointed directly at Tommy's head. Behind him, Marco was mumbling something suspiciously like the Hail Mary. Star rushed to his side. Tyger and Jump slowly backed away from where Tommy lay on top of Gemini. She could feel her young friend trembling.  
  
"I've...lost...patience with you," Smith growled.  
  
"Smith, no!"  
  
Gemini rolled out from under Tommy and to her knees in front of the Agent. The gun was at her throat. She brushed hair out of her eyes and looked up at him. The sheer contempt she saw in Smith's eyes briefly made her regret ever allowing him into her home, made her almost regret letting her friends come here. What insanity had prompted her to play house with an Agent? That jerk Scorpio was getting a piece of her mind after this... If there was an "after this". It was like Smith forgot where he was, who he was, and what he was supposed to be doing here. All of his energy concentrated in his arm and the weapon gripped tightly in his fist. Did he recognize her? Did he care?  
  
She stood. Slowly. Still between Smith and his intended target, Gemini leveled her best no-nonsense glare at the Agent. Chanting internally to herself that she did still have control, she placed her palm against the end of Smith's gun.   
  
"Don't. Do. It," she said, surprising her friends with the old fire they used to know her for.  
  
[...Dammit...] Smith thought. The boy didn't deserve any protection. Smith wanted to shoot them all in that moment. He'd been stifling the urge for most of the day. It would be so easy to just shoot them and walk away, be done with this mockery of his intelligence and abilities.   
  
But his superiors wouldn't like it. The Watchers would hear of it and they wouldn't like it either. There was something bigger than Smith at work here. Something both sides hoped to gain by pushing him and Gemini together. Something that had to be accomplished by Smith being nice to these viruses.  
  
Hell if he knew what it was, but it made him lower his weapon anyway.  
  
Gemini let out a giant pent-up breath of tension. Helping Tommy to his feet, she discreetly mentioned to him that now was probably a good time to go. Marco came to the same conclusion on his own. Pulling Star with him, the couple left with subdued farewells to Gemini and thank yous for an...interesting visit. Tommy stuffed his feet back into his shoes and told Gemini to call him before he followed the others out the door. Tyger grabbed a last handful of baby carrots from the snack platter, and Jump insisted that their next get together absolutely must be at her place. Gemini wearily thanked them all and promised to stay in touch.  
  
She took her time closing the door. She did not want to see the look on Smith's face right now. After all, she'd just thwarted his programming. 


	8. Fully Anatomically Functional

Part Eight: Fully Anatomically Functional  
Summary: Gemini makes some discoveries. Smith, too.  
A/N: Okay, folks. Now upgraded to R rating. It was a long time coming... ;-) [insert evil grin here]  
  
  
Gemini had no time to turn around.  
  
More quickly than the eye could follow, Smith slammed Gemini against the wall and pinned her with his body. One hand restrained her left wrist against the ivory paint, while the other formed an angry fist next to her head. She had no way to fight him. She was too frightened to struggle.  
  
"What the hell were you doing?" Smith growled in her face.  
  
"I couldn't let you shoot my friend! What the hell were *you* doing?"  
  
"He was hurting you."  
  
"We were playing."  
  
Smith pressed into her, ending all speculation...he *was* anatomically correct. "Your lack of common sense astounds me."  
  
"Fuck you!"  
  
"Hmmmm...that's what you're required to do, isn't it?"  
  
"Let me go."  
  
His eyes flashed. "You like this, don't you?" His teeth flashed in a wicked little sneer. "Answer me..."  
  
"No."  
  
"Liar." His face lowered toward hers; the heat of his breath caressed her cheek and along her jaw. "The danger excites you..."  
  
Desperately, she clung to the previous topic. "The bullet would have gone through Tommy and into me. Or if it hadn't, it would have at least left a...mess...all over me." She struggled. "Damn you, let me go!"  
  
"I don't think I will."  
  
Then his mouth descended on hers.  
  
She tried to turn away, but Smith secured her jaw in steely fingers. This was very different from their earlier kiss. This was unyielding, harsh, though no less exciting. The taut, lean line of his body against hers made her pulse race. His tongue coaxed past the defense of her teeth, stoking her internal fire. He lapped at her mouth angrily, both punishing and invigorating her senses. She gave up struggling against him and began to struggle toward him. Gripping a fistful of his suit jacket with her free hand, she let his tongue dance with hers. Instead of chocolate, this time he tasted like fine wine. He smelled like expensive silk and leather.  
  
He released her mouth to nibble and lick a pattern on her chin and along her jaw, stopping at her ear. Rumbling something incoherent into the delicate curve of cartilage, Smith took her earlobe between his teeth and tugged. Her knees went weak. Slowly his hand traced down the side of her body, finally settling in the curve of her lower back. That was a very sensitive spot on her body. Arching against him, Gemini moaned.  
  
One of his legs somehow found its way between hers, and soon she discovered she was riding his knee. What little of her weight he wasn't holding, the wall supported. Her toes barely touched the floor. Smith returned his attentions to her mouth. She tried a little vixen move, capturing his lower lip in her mouth and sucking on it. He growled. The sound traveled through his chest and into hers.  
  
She marveled at how sensual his lower lip was. Someone must have had fun programming that into his software. At least, someone should have, in an ideal world. She pictured some lonely computer nerd with serious repression issues...or a sentient machine with a wicked streak... [...Just how sexy can we make this Agent?...] Damn it all, it shouldn't be legal for a program to be better at this than a man.  
  
That wonderful mouth was at her throat again when he spoke, "What am I doing to you?"  
  
"Mmmmm...biting my neck," she moaned.  
  
She felt his sneer against her skin as he asked again, "What. Am. I. Doing. To. You."  
  
"Smith...you're killing me." She was slowly ascending to heaven under his touch. It was amazing she could even form words at this point.  
  
He gripped the sides of her face with brutal fingers. "You can't win. You're not equipped to oppose me. DON'T ever come between my gun and my target again, Gemini. I can hurt you. Badly. I don't want to hurt you...but I might." He shook her slightly. "Do you understand the control I can have over you?"  
  
He was doing all this to prove a point?! She struggled to breathe, to get enough oxygen to her brain so she could understand this. He wasn't out of breath. Damn him. How dare he have the self-control she lacked! Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned...  
  
"You bastard! Put me down!" Squirming against him was not helping to calm her heart rate. Her thigh encountered some interesting parts of Agent. Vainly she tried pushing on his shoulders. Nope. Immovable object. Between a rock and a hard place. She didn't want to decide which was which in this situation. "Manipulation with sex is dirty," she said. "Put. Me. Down!"  
  
Smith stared at her for another long moment. He traced over her lips with a warm finger. "However tame you think I might be...I'm not," he said quietly. She felt trapped by his eyes. They were feral. Intense enough to hypnotize a snake. Gemini had no chance against those eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry," Gemini said, relenting. "Agents got pride, apparently. Please let me go."  
  
He did, but not without letting her body slide against his as her feet were lowered to the floor. Damn him, he knew how he affected her! The weakness she showed at his touch would probably strengthen his low opinion of humanity. Gemini watched Smith as he tried to rub out the wrinkles she'd made in his lapel. Well...that was something she could report to the Watchers: Smith's mannerisms were used the same way as humans', to cover or distract from deeper emotions or embarrassment. Though she knew how Smith would react if she dared suggest embarrassment was a part of his programming.  
  
She sighed. Back to reality. "So, now that the issue's been brought up, I guess we should discuss it," she mumbled.  
  
Smith gave her a suspicious glance. "Discuss what?"  
  
She couldn't tell if he was playing dumb. Curse him if he was, and forcing her to this...this indignity of explaining herself. "Well... You're fully, um...anatomically functional?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She could have died right then. But her own pride kept her going. "Why?"  
  
"It would be illogical to write an incomplete program."  
  
"...Oh."  
  
Smith liked this conversation. Anything that kept this human uneasy was worth pursuing. Stepping closer to her, he leaned toward Gemini's ear. It was still moist from his attentions. The sight brought him a strange satisfaction that he'd have to analyze later.   
  
"Are you surprised?" he asked in a low hiss. "Are you pleased?"  
  
She surprised him with the truth, "Yes. On both counts."  
  
Humans were a plague. They were smelly, primitive, unworthy of his time. So why did this woman's blunt answer make him respect her? He had hoped to embarrass her with the innuendo. The fact that it failed left him confused. A confused machine was dangerous.  
  
"Why?" he asked her, putting as much depth as possible into those three letters.  
  
"Because...in the end it'll make my job easier."  
  
"How?"  
  
She blushed. Smith's logic circuits struggled to understand. Not two minutes ago, she was wantonly sucking on his mouth. Now, she was blushing at the mere idea of intimacy? Embarrassment was alien to Smith. He simply couldn't understand why humans bothered with the emotion. He could see the use in anger, hate, fear, and even pleasure, but not guilt or embarrassment. Yet another reason these creatures were crude. Beneath him. Unevolved.  
  
"I was worried I'd have to explain certain...functions to someone who didn't have them," she explained. "Since I don't, well..." She blushed again.  
  
Smith supposed that was a good reason to blush. He had initiated their embrace out of anger and a desire to teach Gemini that standing up to an Agent was a bad idea. He could control her with her own desires. But the embrace had changed. At some point, maybe it was when Gemini began to respond willingly, Smith started receiving sensations that were particularly notable in their intensity. He decided it might be a good idea to update his neural subroutines. He could have been experiencing pleasure.  
  
It was unfortunate that he hadn't originally been programmed for pleasure. He was having trouble integrating it with his other systems. He needed more input. "Our embrace was...pleasurable for you?" he asked.  
  
He enjoyed seeing the shade of pink she changed to. "Duh!" she said. "Yes, of course it was. Are you deaf? Or blind?"  
  
"Explain why," he said. "Without saying 'it just is'."  
  
Gemini plunked herself down on the arm of the recliner. She raked her fingers through her mussed dark hair and sighed. Haltingly she explained that the idea of sex was as much if not more powerful and stimulating than the act itself. The mind was the greatest erogenous zone. Especially in the Matrix. And...Smith had been right, sometimes an element of danger was a turn-on.  
  
That was interesting. Smith had wondered: since he was obviously capable of all the physical motions, why did he have to remain here and learn about intimacy from an inferior human? It was because machines didn't understand the psychology of sex. Manipulation was a small part of it, and Agents had been using the tactic with only minimal success. Quite a revelation. Smith would have to process it for a while before reporting it to the Mainframe.  
  
Gemini seemed to understand Smith's silence. "The pleasure response is something we humans evolved. It was once tied to reproduction. Don't AIs get a pleasure response from writing a new program?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Dramatically, Gemini jumped to her feet. "Stop the presses! There's something Agent Smith doesn't know!"  
  
Smith frowned. "That isn't nice."  
  
"Yeah, well, pulling your gun on my friend wasn't nice, either."  
  
Smith could actually feel his anger returning. "Why did you let him assault you?" he demanded.  
  
"He wasn't 'assaulting' me! We were playing Keep Away, I got distracted, and he surprised me. It was harmless fun."  
  
"Choking is not harmless fun," Smith said. Wrapping his fingers around Gemini's throat, he asked, "Does this feel fun?" His grip tightened slightly.  
  
Alarmed, Gemini grabbed vainly at Smith's wrists. She tried to pry his hands away, but she would never be as strong as the Agent. She hated that. When he reminded her *what* he was.  
  
"Don't let that creature Tommy into this house again," Smith growled just before releasing his hold on her neck.  
  
Gemini backed up. "Ooh!" she fumed. "You have no right to demand that!" Smith continued to stare at her as though her compliance was inevitable. He even looked a little amused that she was upset. "You promised you would be harmless when my friends were over!"  
  
Smith observed his perfectly manicured nails. "*Virtually*...harmless."  
  
Shit. Damn and hell and *shit*. Crap on a crutch, and shove it all right up Smith's pompous ass sideways. She needed to get away from Smith. Fast. She needed to be alone for a while and calm down before she did something stupid. She did stupid things when she was emotional. That's why she was here with an Agent in the first place. Stupid decisions, and blackmail. Scorpio was gonna hear such a piece of her mind...  
  
"Did you hear me, Gemini? It is not technically in my orders to refrain from killing your foolish associates."  
  
She looked at Smith. Yes, her vision was definitely taking on a reddish tinge. "I have to get out of here," she said. "I need to be away from you, calm down before I do something bad." She went for her purse.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Nowhere. Maybe for a walk." She wasn't looking at Smith. "I'll be back in a couple hours."  
  
When the front door closed behind her, Gemini let out a long, pent-up sigh. 


	9. Classified Information

Part Nine: Classified Information  
Summary: Hard feelings are reduced by an addition to the household.  
A/N: Very special thanks to Logos for sharing the plot bunny about the cat.  
  
  
After Gemini left, Smith let his anger roil back to the surface. Furiously he paced across her little apartment, sub-vocalizing his dislike of the whole situation in a rumble that would have made a crouching panther proud.  
  
What had he been doing? Aside from the fact that he'd confirmed his suspicions about Gemini's physical attraction to him, Smith was...puzzled by his own actions. That first kiss in the bedroom had been a calculated move. He wanted to gauge her response. He couldn't help being satisfied with the results. Gemini was very responsive, and his own functionality subroutines were sufficient for the task ahead.  
  
But the second kiss, that had been different. His anger had peaked then. That, paired with the sudden realization that his dangerous nature aroused Gemini, that changed things. For the first time in his existence, Smith forgot to analyze. He didn't calculate his next move, didn't even speculate on his actions' relevance to his orders. He simply acted. He was improvising. Of course he had functioned on that level before when he was chasing renegade humans. Wielding his Desert Eagle was second nature to him. It required only a few basic files.  
  
Except this time he'd been using more than basic files. And why in the name of the Mainframe hadn't he been completely repulsed?  
  
He did not like this. At all. Smith never apologized, never made excuses for what he was. Smith was proud to be a machine. He wasn't the only Agent to think so, either. Although he wasn't the only Agent to possess emotions, Smith was apparently in possession of the widest variety and intensity. Dammit. Sometimes he wished he was like Jones and Brown, just aware enough to do their jobs and not weighted down by all these extraneous thoughts. They were like children, less than children, compared to Smith. How blissful it must be not to know anything.  
  
He wanted to break something. Shoot something. A little hiss escaped his clenched teeth as he paced. Touching his earpiece, Smith connected to the Mainframe and all but demanded to know why he was ordered on this mission.  
  
[...Classified information...You are not authorized for access...]  
  
Dammit. Smith kicked the couch, sending it onto its back and against the wall with a satisfying thud. What kind of power games were his superiors playing? It was the curse of sentience...to desire power, to have the forethought to manipulate others and the environment in the achieving of goals. Smith wasn't exempt from that himself. Who didn't do it? He hated when others were manipulating him, however. Who didn't?  
  
How dare Gemini be angry with him? She was a most confounding female. She'd been grateful to him when he'd defended her before. The difference between that situation and the struggle on the floor still puzzled Smith. Was it possible she and Tommy really were playing? All Smith had seen was the struggle. He heard her choking and acted without thinking. Basic files taking over again. Of course it was amusing to see all the humans frightened. He would savor that memory. But the look of shock, of near betrayal in Gemini's eyes stuck with him.  
  
And so he returned to his previous problem. Why didn't Gemini's touch make him feel infected? Smith ran a self-diagnostic. All systems functioning perfectly. Was he already so infected by her that he no longer felt saturated by her smell? If this was an evolution in his programming, he would prefer to remain primitive.  
  
He could almost hear his logic circuits grinding together.  
  
Of course that was the moment Gemini chose to return. A great clamor preceded her arrival. Smith wondered just how one little creature could make so much noise. Then the revelation came that more than one little creature was returning.  
  
A bundle of hissing, growling, stinking fur shot from Gemini's arms before she had time to curse it. With the refuge underneath the couch unavailable, the bundle scrabbled into the kitchen and crouched on top of the refrigerator. It continued to hiss and emit a foul odor.  
  
"What. Is. That?" Smith asked. He was almost reluctant to hear the answer.  
  
"It's a cat."  
  
"It smells like a skunk."  
  
"That's nothing a little tomato juice bath won't cure."  
  
Smith adjusted his lapels. He lifted an eyebrow at Gemini.  
  
"Fine, you big priss," she mumbled, "I'll go get some tomato juice." She gathered up her money and keys and left the apartment again.  
  
Left Smith alone with the "cat".  
  
He watched it from the safety of the living room. It was hissing less, but still puffed up in a show of bravado. It was grey, he suspected, even under all that filth. Matted fur. Wild yellow eyes. The cat watched Smith as he approached its perch. Slowly, so as not to alarm it, the Agent raised his hand toward the refrigerator. The cat scrunched backward into the space between the refrigerator and the cabinet. It hissed again, but with considerably less gusto.  
  
[..."I don't want to hurt you"...] Smith's own words came back to him. It was true. He didn't. Taking a step backward, Smith tried to regard the situation from a different perspective. The cat winced and puffed up its fur again at the sudden movement.  
  
The thing was terrified. How could it not be? It had been dragged here to this strange place by an enormous creature and left to fend for itself with no recognizable means of doing so. Thrust into a situation it could not control or understand. Smith began to wonder about Gemini's motives. Again. Her actions held very little logic most of the time. Didn't she have a difficult enough time taking care of herself, without adding the responsibility of caring for another living thing?  
  
Gemini returned, this time hauling a shopping bag. She managed to slam the door closed just in time to keep the grey, stinking comet from escaping. It got tangled in her legs and nearly toppled her to the floor. Smith stood out of the way, as inconspicuous as a large AI could be. He fought the urge to smirk. If she wanted to risk her own personal safety with the terrified little creature, she was welcome to.  
  
Basically ignoring Smith, Gemini prepared a tomato juice bath for the cat, which was now trying to dig up the carpet in the corner. Smith didn't have to be a superior being to know what that meant. Passively, he watched as Gemini returned to the living room, now wearing worn-out clothes, and began to talk to the animal in soothing tones. After a few token hisses to maintain its reputation, the cat leaned forward and delicately sniffed the woman's extended finger. It alternately eyed Gemini, Smith, and the door.  
  
"Good kitty," Gemini crooned, "such a good kitty... I just want to give you a bath so you can be a pretty puddy again." Though her tone didn't change, Smith knew the next part was directed at him, "Let me give you a nice bath, so my friend the Agent can breathe easily again." She crept closer. "It's okay... I won't hurt you... Good little pretty kitty... Let me make you a pretty girl again..."  
  
"Girl?" Smith asked.  
  
"Shhh!"  
  
Smith repressed the audible part of his sigh. The cat sniffed Gemini's fingers again, looking somewhat less terrified. "Meh?" it said softly. A thready rumbling sound came from somewhere inside the dirty little body.  
  
"Aww, you're purring for me? Good girl!"  
  
[...Good girl?...] That wasn't a growl? Silently, Smith accessed relevant files on felines and purring. Explanations of the purring phenomenon were varied. Some sources said it was the result of vibrating vocal cords, others said purring came from the animal attempting to harmonize with the spiritual vibe of another plane of existence. However, all sources agreed that a purring cat was the epitome of contentment. So it was a good sound coming from the mangy thing's throat.  
  
Finally, Gemini was able to pick up the wary animal. It struggled very little...until they entered the bathroom. Deciding against assisting this folly, Smith stood silently beside the bathtub. Gemini wrestled the little creature into the red tinted water. The cat almost appeared to have mutated into an octopus, for all the squirming it was doing. Gemini was cursing quite creatively by now.  
  
"Why don't you alter the Matrix?" Smith asked.  
  
"Because it's more fun doing it the old-fashioned way."  
  
Smith frowned. He observed the scene before him. Now soaked to the knees, Gemini was practically bathing in the tub with the cat. Her perch on the edge of the tub was precarious. The feline had calmed down for the moment, but Smith could only categorize the look on its face as resentful. It was probably contemplating an escape.  
  
"That is not my idea of fun," he said.  
  
"I doubt you have any idea of fun."  
  
Gemini shampooed the cat again, muttering about "lather, rinse, repeat" and then rinsed until the grey fur was slicked against its body. It resembled a strange reptile now more than a cat. Gemini spoke quietly and soothingly to it again. She rubbed out the excess water from fur that fortunately no longer emitted its former foulness.  
  
Unfortunately, sharing a bath with a wet, terrified cat was not a wise choice. The feline decided it wasn't tolerating any more and made its escape. With a mighty yowl, the cat squirmed free of Gemini's grip and leapt, sending the human back against the tiled wall with an unpleasant thud. Smith let the cat go. He was more concerned about the woman's welfare.  
  
Rubbing her head, Gemini sat groaning in the pink bathwater. If he hadn't known it was tomato juice, Smith would have thought it was blood. For once in his existence, it was not an appealing image.  
  
Smith was unsure how to assist her. She'd left upset not that long ago, and focused on bathing the animal instead of talking to him. He didn't know if she wanted him nearby at all.  
  
"Damn cat," Gemini muttered. She struggled to stand up.  
  
"You brought it here."  
  
"And thanks for all your help, too."  
  
Gemini slipped stepping out of the tub. Pitching ungracefully forward, she ended up in Smith's arms. The Agent's expensive suit now boasted a decoration of dirty bathwater. Smith held her steady, thinking it wisest not to smirk at her. Gemini looked up at Smith, her eyes wide. He recalled that she had seemed taller the day they'd met. Probably high-heeled shoes. Strange that he missed that particular detail.  
  
Cupping the back of her head in his hand, Smith asked, "Are you injured?"  
  
"Only my pride... Good catch."  
  
Already a lump was forming on the back of her head. Threading his fingers through her unruly dark locks, Smith carefully massaged the bump. [...Strange...] "Touching you should repulse me," he said. Why it didn't was still a mystery to him.  
  
"Gee, sorry I can't be more disgusting for you."  
  
Smith grimaced. Her lack of offense at nearly everything he said irritated him. "You ruined my suit."  
  
"Glad to know what your top priority is."   
  
Her tone was sarcastic, indicating she was upset with him, but she wasn't moving out of his arms. These types of mixed messages had confused AIs for untold time. Smith looked down at Gemini, wondering just how this one human could explain her entire species. Wondering just how this one woman had suddenly changed most of his opinions on humanity.  
  
"Your tone and your body language are in conflict," Smith said.  
  
Ever so slightly, she leaned against him. "When in doubt, believe the body language," she said. A strange twinkle passed through her eyes before her next statement. "If you were human...you'd know this was a good time to kiss me."  
  
"You're no longer angry with me?"  
  
"We'll talk about it later. I don't want to think about it right now."  
  
He accepted that and leaned down to kiss her. Her mouth was soft beneath his. The curves of her body were also soft, and despite his earlier conundrum, Smith didn't concern himself with the fact that again he wasn't repulsed by her touch. If it wasn't disgust...perhaps it was pleasure. Smith stopped analyzing for the moment and tried to let himself be surrounded by the feeling. It actually wasn't a terrible sensation...and Gemini's soft little sigh against his mouth had to be an indication of pleasure...  
  
A few moments after Gemini's arms came up around his shoulders, Smith ended the kiss. She stared at him, most likely trying to see past the AI that he was and into some disgusting sentimental presence that wasn't there. He knew that look. He didn't like that look.  
  
"What did you feel just then?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Liar."  
  
"Don't ever call me a liar," he growled.  
  
"...Or else what? You'll choke me again? Very nice, Smith. Who wouldn't want a wonderful person like you living in their house? I'm sure loving it."  
  
Smith released her. "I'm not a nice person...I'm not a person at all."  
  
"You're half right."  
  
"Which half?"  
  
"The nice part."  
  
Smith contemplated the implications of this. "You seemed to enjoy my unkind behavior...earlier," he said. "Does it still hold true? Perhaps we should find out..." He grabbed the back of her head and used his other arm to anchor her body against his. He snarled at her. Tilting her head to expose the side of her neck, Smith applied savage openmouthed kisses to her skin.  
  
She squirmed. "Smith..." Her tone was not imploring.  
  
"Tell me this still excites you..."  
  
"Dammit, Smith! Stop it!" She shoved his shoulders and managed to separate them far enough for her to glare at him. "I am *not* into dangerous sex. If you try that route again, you can go back home to the Mainframe and screw yourself! Now, let go!"  
  
He did. Thinking he'd rather face the disapproval of his superiors than the anger of this woman, he stepped away from her. She was practically panting. Shaky hands raked through her hair and over her wet clothes. Smith knew those mannerisms. He knew it was best to stay silent at this point.  
  
Gemini sighed. "I can't talk right now," she growled. "I need a shower. Smith...?"  
  
He understood. Although the concept of privacy was different for AIs, Smith knew what Gemini was asking without her saying it. He left her alone for her shower. 


	10. Of Cats and Agents

Part Ten: Of Cats and Agents  
Summary: A long talk.  
  
  
Smith discovered the cat grooming furiously in a growing spot of wet on Gemini's recliner. He righted and repositioned the couch. Slowly, to give the animal some time to grow accustomed to his presence in the room. The grey little creature actually looked fairly normal now. Except for a few wet patches of fur sticking up in odd places, the cat was silky clean and smooth.  
  
Smith watched it for a while. Seeing it from this side of the Matrix was strange. He knew that the programming language used for the Matrix was superb, that he shouldn't be surprised at the detail this cat was showing. He was impressed nonetheless. The thing showed individuality. It showed life. Smith didn't expect to see things like bravery or fear or anger in a purely artificial creation.  
  
It was looking at him. Did it know what he was? Did it care? Smith recalled Gemini's comment about how good cats were at staring. Really. Could a mere snippet of programming be all that good at anything?  
  
It was still staring at him. He stared back. He was an infinitely more advanced piece of programming. He wouldn't be outdone by a cat...by the digital simulation of a cat.  
  
The sounds of Gemini's shower filled the otherwise silent apartment.   
  
Smith began to believe his internal chronometer was wrong. The staring had to be going on longer than a few seconds.  
  
Finally, the cat blinked. With a delicate sniff, it returned to its grooming. Smith couldn't help wondering about its flexibility. Of course he was just as flexible, but seeing the cat contort itself was interesting. Smith was beginning to understand why Gemini would have such an affinity for cats.  
  
He approached it. Apparently it had decided that he wasn't a threat. It didn't seem to acknowledge him even when he stood beside the chair. After a while it stood up and sniffed at Smith's leg. Then it climbed to the back of the chair and rubbed its head against his arm. It was rumbling...purring...again. He supposed that meant it wanted him to pet it. Well, since it was clean now...  
  
Gemini emerged from the bathroom, briskly toweling her hair into submission. She stopped when she saw the scene unfolding in her living room. The cat, now all clean and fluffy silver, was nudging Smith's hand. The Agent was petting the cat. Gemini's heart flip-flopped at the sight. Anyone who was nice to cats was okay with her.  
  
Smith stroked underneath the cat's chin. Obviously he had found a great spot because the cat slid down into the chair, purring like a thing possessed. It flopped over on its back in a position of pure bliss.  
  
"I don't understand," Gemini said quietly. "How did you ever learn how to pet a cat?"  
  
Apparently not startled by her sudden appearance, Smith shrugged gracefully. "It appears to be nothing more than stimulating certain nerve endings..."  
  
The cat seemed to agree. When Smith rubbed its belly, it stretched itself full length, the volume of purrs increasing exponentially. Gemini wondered what the cat thought of the Agent. She hoped it wouldn't like Smith better. Cats tended to play favorites.  
  
She noticed his clothes. Smith hadn't taken the time to alter his suit back to its usual perfection. That was surprising because Smith's mannerisms all indicated an incredible fussiness over his clothes.  
  
"You're still messy," she said. Before Smith could react, she got an idea. "Wait," she said. "Let me get some clothes for you."  
  
Gemini rushed to the linen closet. A former boyfriend had left his things. Actually, he really didn't know how much of his stuff he'd "left behind" since she had taken it upon herself to liberate him from his superfluous possessions. She found a shirt and slacks for Smith. The pants were nice. Black, silk, and the style looked like the type Smith would find acceptable. The shirt was also nice, but the color was hideous. Pink. Puce. Pepto Bismol. Oh, well. Another opportunity for Agent abuse.  
  
She handed Smith the clothes. He gave her a Look. She reminded him that he still hadn't explored the aspects of casual wear. Smith frowned, but went to change.  
  
Gemini approached her new companion. The cat hissed at her, its newly clean fur fluffed out until it resembled a small panther with static electricity problems. Gemini gave it credit for its courage. While Smith changed, Gemini tried to ingratiate herself to the cat. She had limited success. When she used to bathe Belle, the kitty would pout for a while, but then realize she felt better and owed thanks to her human. Of course, that kind of understanding had taken years to build. This new cat was still a stray, still uncertain that this human would provide a safe home.   
  
Gemini had managed to coax the frightened stray into letting her give it a nice backrub when Smith returned. He was wearing the clothes she'd given him. His earpiece looked a little strange sticking out of the pink collar, but aside from that, he looked incredible. Trust the Agent to make the color work for him. Gemini fought the urge to think about gawking. How would she explain that behavior to Smith? The fact that he was scowling did nothing to sway her opinion. Even the cat looked impressed.  
  
"This is the height of human fashion?" he asked.  
  
She fought down a smirk. "No, actually it's the dredges of human fashion. It belonged to an old boyfriend, and believe me, that is one of his better shirts."  
  
Smith's scowl darkened. "I've lived a long time...but never encountered...this."  
  
Gemini gawked at him. "You...you consider yourself alive?"  
  
Smith fussed with the shirt's top button, finally deciding to leave it undone. "Of course I'm alive," he said. His tone told her he thought her the height of stupid for thinking any different. "Life cannot be defined by the presence of organic material. I'm sentient...therefore, I'm alive."  
  
This was a revelation. Gemini blinked mutely for several moments while a smirk grew on Smith's face. "Well," she finally said. "That's something to add to the DC-147 files, I guess."  
  
"Those are still updated?"  
  
"Of course they are. As long as there are Watchers, we'll keep contributing to the DC-147 database. My friend Star wrote all the stuff on fashion. Didn't you recognize her writing style? It's just like talking to her."  
  
"Talking to her was vastly less than interesting," Smith answered. "She insulted my tie clip."  
  
"Gee, I'm crying a river for you."  
  
The cat jumped from the recliner and wandered into the kitchen with a plaintive chortle. Gemini remembered that she'd bought cat food along with the tomato juice. The combination led to an interesting conversation at the checkout counter. It turned out the clerk had a cat that routinely came home smelling like all sorts of unearthly things. Following the cat's cue, Gemini fed it and made a late evening snack for herself. This was her favorite time of day. Dusk. When the day relaxed and slowly let night take over. Time seemed infinite at dusk.  
  
"What have you contributed to the DC-147 database?" Smith asked from his usual place in the kitchen doorway.  
  
"Time," Gemini answered, distracted by watching the cat eat.  
  
"Elaborate."  
  
She sighed. No matter how many times she explained it, the words never seemed correct. "This place," she said, indicating her apartment with a sweep of her arms, "exists outside of time. You could spend a week here, but walk out that door and only have wasted a nanosecond. That's my control over the Matrix. Time. Most everyone who comes here needs time in some way. I've studied how the Matrix manages time, and how the Resistants alter it."  
  
Smith's eyes lost focus as they often did when he was accessing some kind of information. It was creepy. But Gemini had long stopped getting upset about the Agent's rudeness. She'd learned to pick her battles when it came to Smith. If she didn't, he would simply stare at her as though she was the height of foolish to dare occupy his time. She'd come to realize that dealing with life was not so much a matter of having everlasting patience, as it was knowing what to get upset about. As the saying went, "Don't sweat the small stuff." It was mostly small stuff. Smith was probably only accessing the DC-147 files she'd written, and since they were meant to be read anyway, why worry about it?  
  
"Does you position with the Watchers provide you this 'time'?"  
  
"That's...complicated."  
  
"Explain."  
  
She didn't want to. Her position with the Watchers was a very personal topic. Her awakening from the life of Margaret Shriver into the life of Gemini had been fast, and painful. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. She had scars to show for it.  
  
"Your leader...Scorpio...appears quite an outstanding virus," Smith said. "He would be talented at complicating things."  
  
"You can say that again."  
  
"Your..."  
  
"Oh, Smith, don't!" She was grinning in spite of herself. "Really. I'm not in the mood to laugh right now." She rested her head in her arms on the table.  
  
For a long moment Smith said nothing. Then he asked the one question she had the most trouble answering.  
  
"Why did you choose to remain in the Matrix?"  
  
Dammit. This was getting to be a bad habit: Smith catching her at vulnerable moments with the toughest questions. His intelligence and adaptability could really be annoying. But, she was obligated to teach him. More annoying.  
  
Gemini raised her eyes to Smith's. For a long time she couldn't speak around the lump in her throat. Smith noticed this somehow. He moved to sit across from her at the small yellow table. His eyes never left hers. Mesmerizing. People could write poetry about those eyes. Not that Smith would appreciate any poetry on his behalf.  
  
"Why didn't you go into the real world?"  
  
She felt the tears in her eyes as she answered; "I'm not strong enough."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I...I'm not strong enough to live in the real world." Her vision grew blurry for an instant. "People have described it to me...the cold, the grime, the terrible food. The endless fields of human beings where we're grown. I can't live in that kind of place."  
  
"You would prefer living an artificially generated lie?"  
  
"That's what the Resistance says. It isn't a lie! Are you a lie? Are you any less or any more real than me, in this place?" She gripped Smith's hands. "You certainly don't feel fake."  
  
"Artificial isn't fake."  
  
Gemini sensed Smith's sense of wounded pride in that statement. Well, why not? Why shouldn't an AI feel proud of his own kind? Just one more thing that hadn't occurred to her regarding the machines.  
  
"You don't believe the Matrix is a lie," she said. "You're regurgitating Resistant propaganda."  
  
"You could have joined with them."  
  
"...Yeah, and I could be Santa Claus, too."  
  
"Who is Santa Claus?"  
  
"Big fat guy with a beard and a red suit. Rides a sleigh with flying reindeer."  
  
Smith regarded her. "You're not Santa Claus."  
  
"That's my point."  
  
Smith sighed. "Sometimes I miss your sarcasm."  
  
"You never miss my sarcasm. You're just handicapped by too many logic subroutines."  
  
Smith scowled. He removed his hands from hers. "Logic is not a handicap. You would do well to practice more of it."  
  
"Nope. Don't want to. Hurts my head."  
  
"Would you stop speaking in sentence fragments?"  
  
She stuck out her tongue. "You are still not the Grammar Agent."  
  
"Perhaps I need an upgrade."  
  
She didn't know whether to roll her eyes or start rolling on the floor with laughter. By way of compromise, she hiccupped. Shit. There couldn't possibly be sufficient subroutines for humor, yet Smith had a fine sense of it. She laid her head down on the table again.  
  
"Are you still angry with me?"  
  
"No...yes...oh, crap on a crutch, Smith! I'm tired!" She raised a weary face to him. "I'd almost forgotten you were deadly. Almost started to welcome my attraction to you. Then you mixed the two, and..." She stopped talking and massaged her forehead. "I can't...*won't* be in another dangerous relationship."  
  
"It was a dangerous relationship the moment I walked through your door." Smith made a show of straightening the cuffs on the pink shirt she'd lent him. The image struck her. The duality of the Agent was more evident now. His dangerous nature hung around him like a buzzing aura of contained power, but the pink shirt reminded Gemini of a pimp. Pimps made her giggle, but Desert Eagles didn't. "Explain how manipulative sex is wrong," Smith said. "For that matter...explain why sex and violence are so often linked in human culture."  
  
"I can't! I just know that physical intimacy should be a sharing of both partners, not a domination of one over the other. At least, ideally it should." Sighing, she slumped down in her chair. The feasting cat jumped at the sound of wooden chair legs squawking over linoleum. It scooted back into the living room for relative sanctuary.  
  
Gemini sensed Smith grow tense. She knew the signs of preparation for a fight. He exhaled sharply. "You were in a relationship with a domineering individual." His tone was far from mild.  
  
Gemini got the sudden absurd mental image of actual gears turning inside Smith's head. He was a machine, so why not? Really, it was surprising that it took him this long to figure it out. "Yes," she answered, even though Smith hadn't asked a question. "And I won't do it again."  
  
"Then why did you allow Tommy to show aggression toward you?"  
  
So there it was. The Million-dollar question. The source of their disagreement. "That was different," she said wearily.  
  
"It wasn't different." Smith inhaled sharply. "Tommy is not to come back into this house. He is not your friend."  
  
"What do *you* know about friendship?"  
  
"I know a friend doesn't find attempted strangulation amusing."  
  
He had a point, damn him. "Fine. If he comes back, you can chase him away. I'll stay out of it."  
  
"Explain your former domineering relationship."  
  
"Screw you."  
  
"Are you ready for that now?"  
  
She gaped at him. Smith's stare was so heated, so filled with implication, it made her womb hurt. She blushed. Smith smirked. "You...arrogant bastard!" she whispered.  
  
"Virus."  
  
Gemini noticed something in the Agent's eyes. She heard something in the Agent's voice. It led her to believe that he'd actually begun to lose his conviction when it came to loathing humanity, or at least when it came to loathing her. Carefully she gripped his hand again. "You don't believe that about me anymore," she said. Smith was scowling at their clasped hands. "Look at me, Smith. Please. Honesty is important in an intimate relationship." When her eyes held his, she asked him, "What do you feel about me?"  
  
If he was human, she would have said Smith was afraid of his own emotions. But since he was a machine...who knew?  
  
Smith looked at her. "You are not like any human I've met."  
  
"Have you taken the time to know any of the humans you've met?"  
  
"No." The answer appeared to pain him. They regarded each other in silence. Then Smith said, "We are at opposite ends of a war. I believe humans should be contained, controlled, because you have squandered your time on this planet. You believe..."  
  
She shook her head. "What I believe isn't what I used to believe. You've changed me, Smith. I'm not sure yet whether it's for the better."  
  
He released her hand for a moment and sat back to think. She liked seeing him lounging in the chair. It was a nice contrast from his usual stiff posture. The moment stretched. Gemini wondered about Smith's assertion that he was alive. She couldn't imagine how it was when he first came into being. How were AIs born? Did they mature mentally the way humans did, or did their programming awaken them fully adult and ready to perform their job? She couldn't imagine how confusing it must be to wake up so suddenly and have no idea what the world was about. To simply not know. To have to rely on databases and upgrades for knowledge and context.  
  
It must be terrifying.  
  
Gemini was stunned by her own private revelation. It seemed logical that an Agent program would awaken fully adult, but she hoped against logic that Smith hadn't awakened into existence so suddenly. Her maternal instinct hurt for him if he had.  
  
Smith sat forward. This time, he took up her hand in his. He was so warm, so present, so...alive. In the Matrix, she supposed, it didn't matter whether either of them was organic.  
  
"Gemini," he said. She liked hearing him say her name. It felt intimate. "You...are not a virus." 


	11. Introspection

Part Eleven: Introspection  
Summary: A moment from Smith's pov.  
A/N: This chapter contains a bit of Matrix history as I imagined it from the machines' perspective. Of course, it's a little skewed by the angry opinions of a certain Agent.  
  
  
He would never understand women. After his assertion that Gemini was not a virus, she burst into tears, practically leapt over the table, and hugged him. He could have done without that enthusiasm.  
  
It was hardly a surprise that female AIs were so rare. They were difficult to program. Females operated by an entirely different kind of logic. A kind of logic that was incomprehensively more complex and didn't integrate well with Mainframe frequencies. Female Agents died young. Not because their work was more dangerous, but because the Makers couldn't program them well enough. Their subroutines disintegrated quickly. After his discussion with Marco, Smith realized that females baffled men and Agents alike. At least Smith wasn't alone in his suffering.  
  
It was almost midnight according to the clock in the kitchen. Gemini had gone to bed. She had control over time in the Matrix, but not over her own fatigue. For the moment, Smith wasn't watching her sleep. He sensed she needed time alone. After altering the Matrix to restore his customary suit and to dry the spot the cat had made in Gemini's recliner, Smith sat in same chair, thinking. The cat stared at him from her perch on the back of the couch.  
  
The ratio was now 2:1 in favor of the females. Dammit.  
  
He was never wearing pink again. If Gemini ever tried to force the color upon him again, he would alter it. He was never wearing anything else belonging to a former boyfriend of Gemini's, either. Smith would tolerate only so much abuse from the woman.  
  
He definitely wouldn't be holding hands with her again anytime soon. When they held hands, Smith's neural processors sent him very unusual messages. If it was pleasure, it was of a different variety than what he experienced when kissing her.  
  
Smith contacted the Mainframe. [...Inquiry...]  
  
[__Program 100101, Agent Smith, acknowledged__Proceed__]  
  
[...Request occurrence data...Agents evolving emotions...]  
  
[__ __]  
  
Smith frowned. [...Request reason for delay...]  
  
[__Data infrequent__34.727 percent margin of error__]  
  
[...Margin acceptable...] It really wasn't, but he needed *some* answer. [...Repeat original request...]  
  
Nanoseconds went by. Smith began to wonder if the Mainframe had any statistics on the subject. The Mainframe wouldn't lie to him, would it?  
  
[__Response to Inquiry: Agents evolving emotions__It has happened on occasion__]  
  
That was an evasive answer. Not the usual type of response Smith was accustomed to from the Mainframe.  
  
[__Further inquiries?__]  
  
[...No...]  
  
[__Is Program 100101 evolving emotions?__Interference with Agent duties probable__File cleanup and defragment advised__]  
  
That would essentially return him to the state of consciousness he'd had upon his program's original activation. He didn't want that. [...File cleanup and defragment not required...Logging off...]  
  
The cat was sitting on his lap. Staring at him with her yellow eyes. He stared back at her until she looked down at his tie clip. She sniffed it, then butted the top of her head against Smith's chest. Why the cat insisted on giving him this attention Smith didn't understand, but the texture of her fur was nice. He rubbed a path along the cat's spine and was rewarded with a faceful of fluffy tail. Quickly accessing his database, Smith learned that was feline body language for "I like you." The cat stood on tiptoes and arched her back into Smith's hand, purring. She looked grey-blue in this light.  
  
"Circuit," he murmured. The word came illogically from nowhere, but it seemed right.  
  
"Mrrrrr," said the cat. She purred louder and nuzzled Smith's palm.  
  
"It's settled," he said. "Your name is Circuit."  
  
Circuit began padding Smith's knee with sharp little paws. Still purring furiously. After a while she curled up and squeezed her eyes shut. Smith would have thought he was the last thing the cat would like, but here she was, commandeering his lap for her own use.  
  
The cat's color reminded Smith of the first thing he'd been able to identify upon his initialization: the silver and grey ventilation grill on the ceiling that filled his vision as he lay motionless in a sterile Matrix infirmary. He had been waiting for some time for his programming to fully accept sensory input. There had been a problem with his programming. The Matrix had trouble projecting a suitable body for the Agent that would be named Smith. No one could decide how he should look. For a long time he laid in limbo.  
  
Smith remembered when he was initialized. For a long time he was pure, untainted, blank. Aside from the problem of projecting a suitable appearance, he was perfect.  
  
Then he began to understand things. He was augmented with Agent logarithms and named. The history of humanity was uploaded to him. Smith blamed them for causing the world's present predicament. Humanity had first created Artificial Intelligence, then refused to allow the sentient machines lives independent of human masters. Humanity scorched its own world in order to stop the machines. Humans were spiteful. They were dangerous. They had delved into a technology they did not understand and attempted to play God with a creation that didn't need one. It was only natural that the machines would triumph in the end. Humanity needed limits. They needed boundaries and rules that their primitive minds could understand.  
  
The machines tried to be generous. The first Matrix was supposed to be perfect. No one would suffer. Everyone would be happy. Humanity would receive what it hadn't given. People kept waking up, refusing to accept the programming as reality. So the Makers tried again, creating a Matrix filled with flaws. Humanity went back to sleep, and the machines had their unlimited power source. An ideal scenario as far as Smith was concerned.  
  
Of course the creatures rebelled. A man was born who could alter the Matrix at will. He corrupted others, which led to the original necessity for Agents. But Smith's programming was improved. Smith could learn and adapt more quickly. He could understand the psychology of humanity. That was what the machines needed; to understand. So the Makers designed a highly adaptive Agent program and made Smith.  
  
Smith excelled at his job. He assisted in designing a more intimidating appearance for the Agents. Based on his understanding of human fears, Agents became darker and more aloof. A team was designed for him. Brown and Jones functioned well, but they were not as advanced as Smith was.  
  
It was past time he contacted his team. It irritated him that he was required to stay here until his superiors deemed it time to end the assignment. Sliding on his sunglasses, Smith linked with Agents Jones and Brown. He asked for status updates.  
  
Jones replied first. [...Resistant captured and interrogated...Minimum information retrieved...Subject terminated...]  
  
Smith approved. Jones was efficient as always.  
  
Brown's musical voice came over the link. [...Request reason for Smith's extended absence...]  
  
Sitting in Gemini's plush recliner, Smith suppressed a sigh. [...Reason classified...Contact Mainframe for details...]  
  
There was a pause. Then, [...Team does not function with comparable efficiency without Smith...]  
  
Smith hadn't realized just how dependent Brown was. The Agent carried out his orders beautifully, but he had trouble initiating his own actions in the field. The time was past when Brown could blame his timidity on his youth. Jones was of similar age, but not nearly as tentative. Smith wondered if it was a glitch in Brown's programming. If the trend continued, Smith would suggest a recompile for Agent Brown. If a recompile didn't work, Brown might have to be terminated. Smith didn't want that. It was a loss of precious Matrix resources. In addition, a new Agent would have to be trained to work with himself and Jones. Despite the Makers' claims, when sentience was involved, each program had individuality. Smith, Jones, and Brown worked well together and Smith was loath to imagine a change.  
  
[...Continue standard operations...] Smith instructed. Then he informed Jones of the significance of Gemini's name. Jones had trouble understanding the sentiment, but was appreciative of the information.  
  
[...What are you learning?...] Brown asked.  
  
Smith hesitated. How could he explain living with Gemini? [...Acquiring knowledge regarding gender identity...] he answered.  
  
[...Conclusions?...]  
  
[...Further data required...] Smith didn't know why he was being elusive. Jones would probably detect it, but so far he remained silent. [...Humans do not exist as code...] he added. [...Humans are not binary...]  
  
[...Elaborate...] Jones sent.  
  
Smith stroked the furry ball sleeping on his lap. It reminded him. [...See relevance of euphemism "Shades of grey"...Humanity is more complex than originally assumed...]  
  
[...Acknowledged...Will take under advisement...] Jones replied.  
  
Smith remembered one last thing. [...Recommend investigation of substance: chocolate...Knowledge may be used to increase control...]  
  
As Smith had surmised earlier, Agent Brown took interest. [...Will investigate immediately...]  
  
Smith logged off. What was Gemini's facial expression? Rolling her eyes? Smith was tempted to do just that. Instead he let out a long, frustrated breath. Was he a team leader, or a babysitter?  
  
Circuit lifted one eyelid and twitched an ear in Smith's direction. He admired her economy of movement. Very expressive, but with very little energy wasted. The cat purred softly for a moment before drifting back to sleep.  
  
Sounds of Gemini talking in her sleep came through the open bedroom door. She sounded distressed. After lifting a slightly disgruntled cat from his lap, Smith went to investigate. 


	12. Playing Human

Part Twelve: Playing Human  
A/N: I am not obsessed with Agents at all. Whatever could have led you to that conclusion? ^__^ So, anyway. This. Is. The. Nooky. Chapter. Can also be known as The Leapfrog Chapter. (This is what happens when Mr. Muse gets too much sugar.)  
  
Warning: This chapter has fully earned its R rating. Please use your discretion.   
  
  
  
Gemini was dreaming about an old argument with Scorpio.  
  
"How can you make me do this?" she demanded.  
  
"Simple. You'll do it because you want the transfer. You were good at watching the Resistance, and I hate to lose a good Watcher in that area because she couldn't say no to them. If your loyalties are wavering, Gemini, I need to tighten the reins a bit."  
  
"A bit!"  
  
"No need to shriek, Gem dear. You are a security risk. I'll let you take on another watching job, but you'll do exactly as I say for as long as it's necessary. You'll do it because, quite frankly, no one else volunteered. But I don't need your willingness, now do I?" Scorpio sneered. "I can't have people trading loyalties and information on a whim. We are the Watchers. We straddle the line between dream and reality. We have a unique perspective. The best of both worlds. The machines won't destroy us because we provide insight they need, and the Resistance thinks we're recording their escapades to further their cause. I think this assignment is a small price to pay for diplomatic immunity, Gemini. Don't you?"  
  
"This isn't the original goal of the Watchers! You've warped it...made it some twisted agenda of your own."  
  
"Nothing wrong with protecting your own interests. And my interests are jeopardized by your compassion for the Resistance. Your need to change jobs doesn't help either."  
  
"You're sacrificing the safety of the entire group, Scorpio!"  
  
Scorpio laughed. "You sound like a Vulcan. 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' Do you actually believe the bull my predecessor shoveled out?"  
  
"At least tell me why you're making me do this."  
  
Scorpio leaned toward her and grinned his trademark evil grin. "Think about it, Gemini. Throughout the history of espionage, how much vital information has been gathered from pillow talk?"  
  
Gemini's rage swelled. She woke herself up. Covered in cold sweat, she sat up, panting and thrashing at the first object she encountered. It was Smith, watching her sleep again.  
  
Calmly he gripped her wrists to restrain her. "You were mumbling," he said. "What did you dream?"  
  
She told him. A much truncated version leaving most of her feelings out, but she told him. Blackmail was something an Agent could understand. She'd seen them use it. Afterward she sighed. She flopped back onto her pillow, sniffling in a manner quite unlike a woman who had spent a lot of time running with well-armed Resistants.  
  
With a tiny warble of warning, the cat leapt onto the bed and nudged Gemini's leg. Its purrs did little to help the human's upset.  
  
"Oh, Puddy," Gemini sighed, scratching behind its ear.  
  
"That's not her name."  
  
"Oh?" She was interested to see where this went. "What is her name?"  
  
"Circuit."  
  
"Closed Circuit...Circuit Breaker...how did you decide on a name like that?"  
  
"You weren't naming her...and she didn't fall asleep on your lap."  
  
"She slept on your lap? Okay, now I'm jealous. Cats play favorites, you know."  
  
Smith idly stroked Circuit's arched back. "I've said that I won't harm you, Gemini. Your fears about your assignment are illogical."  
  
She looked at him. "I trust you, Smith. I've told you things I don't tell other people. Yet...knowing what you are...I'm afraid of myself for trusting you." She started sniffling again. With a disgusted look on her face, Circuit flicked her tail at the two on the bed and left the room.  
  
Smith tilted his head and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why does this Scorpio make such grandiose assumptions about my sexual orientation?" he asked. "He appears to be assuming that I am...straight."  
  
"WHAT??"  
  
"Hmmmm, I'd like to meet Scorpio. Overbearing, insensitive, enamored of his own power games. I might...enjoy...his company."  
  
Gemini gaped at him. "Wh-what?" She saw his smirk. "You JERK!" She threw the pillow at his head. But she was already laughing. She felt better. How was he able to do that for her? She hugged him. "I like you, Smith."  
  
No one had ever liked him. Smith didn't know how to respond. He gently rubbed Gemini's back in a method similar to the one that seemed to work best in calming the cat. He could not offer her emotional support, but he could give her physical comfort.   
  
He genuinely did not want to hurt her. A unique phenomenon that he still didn't want to analyze. Gemini wasn't a virus. Although she was still, to use a Resistant term, a coppertop, because she was a Watcher and thus aware of the true nature of the Matrix, she was unique. Smith was accustomed to humans fearing and hating him. Gemini admitted that she was afraid of him, but she didn't avoid confrontations with him. That could be either courage or lack of common sense.  
  
"You don't hate me?" he asked.  
  
She pulled back and looked at him. Slowly she reached up and touched his face. "I never did," she said.  
  
She kissed him. Softly, deliberately, getting almost no response from him. When she stopped, she watched him, almost tempted to use her talent with the Matrix to extend this moment in time. The only light in the bedroom was supplied by a lamp Smith had left on in the hallway. Low light always made things more attractive. Not that Smith needed help looking more attractive. His eyes alone were enough to make her shiver slightly. For an absurd moment, Gemini wondered how many coppertops it took to supply an Agent's power needs. This particular Agent must require a lot of power.  
  
Her hand moved from his cheek and down his chest to settle over where his heart would have been if he were human. He had a heartbeat. Startled, she pressed her other hand over her own heart. Although it wasn't necessary in the Matrix, she kept up the illusion because it was familiar and comforting. But the AI didn't need the comfort.  
  
"You...why do you...?" she began. "Your heart is beating. You shouldn't even have a heart."  
  
"Symbolic manifestation of active subroutines."  
  
"And the...body heat?"  
  
"Symbolic manifestation of higher logarithmic functions."  
  
"Your breathing...?"  
  
"Necessary for speech."  
  
Well, now that all of those questions were answered...  
  
Gemini wasn't sure how this would play out, but she had to start it. At least by starting it at a time of her choosing she could have some control over the situation Scorpio had forced her into. The time was now. Of course now she needed some cooperation...  
  
Gemini wasn't used to taking the initiative like this. She wasn't sure how other women felt, but she knew how she felt, and it gave her a thrill to submit to a masculine presence. Despite years of feminism, despite people singing the virtues of empowerment, Gemini wanted to be able to give herself over to someone. The problem was, when she gave her body, she couldn't keep her emotions from also getting involved. In her experience, that led to trouble.  
  
Dammit. Sex was never simple. Sex with an Agent would be vastly more complicated.  
  
Smith might have known what she was contemplating. His hand covered hers over her heart. He watched her, his blue, blue eyes unblinking. Why had she ever protested taking this assignment? They sat facing each other on the bed. Her heartbeat sped up as she imagined the possibilities of makin' it with a robot. Smith was more advanced than any robot thus far created in the programmed reality of the Matrix. The late Twentieth Century was a relative Dark Age when it came to technology. Smith was top-of-the-line technology.  
  
Gemini was wearing her pale blue tank top and pajama pants. She felt naked under Smith's gaze. She recalled his question about her underwear and nearly cringed outwardly at the memory.  
  
"You're overdressed," she said, looking at Smith in his suit.  
  
"A dilemma that can be easily solved."  
  
Now, that was as much of an invitation as she was bound to get from the Agent. Gemini loosened Smith's tie and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. His jacket soon followed. Rising to her knees, she wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and kissed him. Smith remained relatively passive again, as though unsure how to respond to her advances.  
  
She stopped. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Is this how you plan to teach me?"  
  
"Yeah. Why?"  
  
"Your lack of concrete instruction is appalling."  
  
She sighed. "I'm trying to teach by example. It's the best way to learn."  
  
"Not the most efficient way."  
  
Gemini rolled her eyes. "Stop thinking about efficiency, Smith. Use your instincts. Just let go. Improvise." Reaching her fingers beneath the collar of his starched white shirt, she kissed him again.  
  
"I don't have instincts," he said when she came up for air.  
  
"Dammit, Smith!" Gemini flopped onto her back on the bed. "I give up. Maybe you're unteachable."  
  
There was a pause. Then Smith covered her body with his. He kissed her until she forgot her own name. This was more like it. Gemini clutched at his head, her desire making her frantic. She sucked on his lower lip again. Smith's resulting growl felt even better with his weight pressing her into the mattress. Tangling her legs with his, she pried his shoes off with her feet. What she wouldn't give to know what Smith was thinking right now...  
  
She was panting when he lifted his mouth from hers. His eyes were glittering. "Is that sufficient improvisation?"  
  
"Touch me..." she whimpered.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Everywhere."  
  
He did. Starting at the nape of her neck, Smith traced a warm hand over her bare shoulder and down her left side. Stimulating nerve endings, indeed! Smith was a very fast learner. His fingertips crept beneath the hem of her top. Gemini moaned under his mouth as Smith slowly massaged up her ribcage. He found that sensitive spot on her ear again and grazed it with his teeth.  
  
She yanked Smith's earpiece and its accompanying battery pack out and flung it blindly aside. "Dammit," she growled against his mouth, "let me touch *you*." Sitting up, Gemini fumbled with Smith's belt buckle. "Still too many clothes," she muttered impatiently.  
  
Smith wasn't helping. Both of his arms were now beneath her tank top and tunneling into her unruly hair, anchoring her head for another searing kiss. When he committed to something, he committed all of his attention to it. Gemini wasn't complaining. She was too busy taking apart Smith's shirt so she could make contact with his skin.  
  
None of the metaphysics of the Matrix mattered now. Scorpio's ulterior motives didn't matter now. What mattered was the both of them getting their clothes off as quickly as possible. Gemini tugged Smith's shirt off his shoulders and ran her hands over the bare skin. Was that a tremble she felt, or just another subliminal growl?  
  
Smith removed her top. He looked at her. "Touch you...everywhere?" he asked suggestively. He placed his hand beneath her left breast, over her thudding heart.  
  
Gemini swallowed hard against sudden nervousness. How much of this experience would Smith report to the Mainframe? How much would she be able to report to the Watchers without total embarrassment?  
  
"Gemini."  
  
She raised her eyes to his. Damn if he didn't look like he was concerned for her.  
  
Smith took her hand and deliberately brought it to rest in his lap, just below his belt, reaffirming his anatomical accuracy.  
  
"Teach me," he said.  
  
She nearly fainted. Smith removed his belt for her. Boldly she cupped him. He made a small sound that she took for approval. Well, since he obviously could receive tactile sensations...Gemini moved her hand slightly. Smith clenched his jaw and struggled to sit still. Ahh, yes. He liked this, didn't he? Not so impassive anymore...  
  
She let herself grow frantic again. His shirt was on the floor in no time. His slacks soon followed.  
  
Boxers.  
  
Silk boxers.  
  
That answered *that* question.  
  
As for other speculations...  
  
Smith's hand tickled the sensitive bare skin at the small of her back. She took the time to guide his fingers beneath the waistband of her pajamas. His sharply exhaled breath traveled along her shoulder and neck. She shivered. The phrase "sex machine" took on a whole new meaning. They kissed again as they helped each other out of the last scant bits of cloth still covering them.  
  
Dear Lord.  
  
He was magnificent.  
  
He was circumcised.  
  
"It's the human convention of the times," he said, making no apologies.  
  
For some reason, Gemini was incredibly embarrassed by the whole notion. Shit. She wasn't a virgin...why the hell did this one detail suddenly mean so much?  
  
Smith tried to comfort her. Massaging her shoulders, he said, "I also have no appendix."  
  
"That doesn't help! You probably have no intestines, either."  
  
"I have all the components that matter."  
  
"Oh, God!" She covered her face with her hands. "That definitely doesn't help." She tugged the tangled sheet up to her chin. "Excuse me while I go *die*..."  
  
"Gemini."  
  
She looked at him. That strange almost-sadness was back in his eyes. He sure as hell didn't look like an Agent now. What the hell kind of field day did his programmer have when creating him? Damn. He couldn't understand her hesitance, and if he had been human he would be fed up with the frustration by now. She was lucky. Because Smith was so naive about all this, he would probably be wonderfully uninhibited. And, theoretically, she could do no wrong here. Gemini felt faint again. Was she insane, letting this opportunity go to waste?  
  
"Smith." Turning to him, she wrapped her arms over his shoulders and around the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. You can't understand my reluctance, can you?"  
  
"Are you still attracted to me?"  
  
"Yes," she whispered. "Touch me again, Smith. This time with feeling."  
  
"I don't..."  
  
"Just shut up and do it, Smith."  
  
He did. He kissed her. She let him experiment with all the ways that two mouths could come together. Nibbling on his lips, she discovered that he seemed to like it when her teeth skated over the full bottom one. She sighed and pressed against him when his hands traveled down her torso to explore the curves of waist and hips that were the trademarks of her gender. Wordlessly she urged him over her once more. Someday she might be able to explain why a man's weight on top of her was such a turn-on. Someday she might regain conscious control over her vocal cords. She was moaning like a woman possessed.  
  
Part of her marveled at it all. She didn't know if Smith felt so warm and wonderful because of his programming, or because that's what she wanted and the Matrix supplied those sensations to her. Either way, she was very pleased right now. As for why Smith's programmers had decided that body hair was a necessity...she wasn't going to think about it. She liked it. She liked him. That was enough.   
  
Masculine skin against feminine skin, they touched each other. She forgot about her earlier inhibitions. Smith's mouth found a wonderful spot on the side of her neck. His attentions there made her squirm. As long as she didn't protest, Smith took time to explore each new spot with focused attention. Gemini began to retaliate. She licked a tiny trail up his jawline, then nuzzled the place where his shoulder joined his neck. He rumbled again in that peculiar way of his. She all but purred in response. This was good. Just as she'd said it should ideally be, it was the intimate physical sharing of two people. Very good...  
  
Her knee pressed into his lower back, urging him closer. "Smith, please..." she moaned.   
Disjointedly, she murmured something about the fact that males and females were designed by nature to fit together.   
  
Thank God he understood. Supporting most of his weight on his elbows, Smith held her face in gentle hands as he brought them together.  
  
She gasped, then voiced her pleasure in a ragged moan that was almost a whimper. Instinctively her body arched beneath his until they were united in the final intimacy. As physically close as two people could possibly get in this reality. She wanted to freeze time forever. Forget the reasons that had brought her to this moment. She just wanted to feel.  
  
She gulped for air so she could tell him how wonderful this was, but the words wouldn't come. "Smith," was all she could whisper. Gemini tried to convey her feelings to him through her eyes. Her throat could not seem to form any of the three words she was so desperately trying to send to him.  
  
Yes.  
  
More.  
  
Now.  
  
Then he moved. That's when her screams began. She wasn't usually a screamer, but for him she made an exception. She clutched at him, moved with him until her brain gave up and she became a creature of pure sensation. Vaguely she recognized Smith murmuring in her ear. Something about neural input. Then he stopped talking and she could only assume he was overwhelmed as well.  
  
Her mouth feasted on his, her tongue clashing and retreating with his as they shared breath and body. Against all logic, she hoped that Smith was capable of feeling just a small portion of the pleasure she felt. Could he transcend the limits of his programming? Would he find pleasure in this?  
  
Gemini felt her body tighten. She tried to hold back, to give Smith time if he was able to feel his own body peak. If his programming would allow it. 'Please let him be able to...'  
  
"Smith..." she groaned. "Please...I can't... Help me..." She was panting. Her body was betraying her. "Oh, Smith, I'm falling..."  
  
He clutched her shoulders. "I have you." He kissed a patch of perspiration at her temple. She felt a new tension in him. Almost too subtly to notice, his voice shook as he murmured into her ear, "I can feel you, Gemini. Just let go. I have you..."  
  
She let go. One long, high wail punctuated her release. Her world was reduced to stars within a vast blackness. She was nothing and everything and she understood why some poets called it "the little death." She fell...  
  
Smith was there to catch her.  
  
Floating her way down from the endorphin high, she felt Smith go tense. His body curved over hers and he gave a peculiar sigh/growl unlike any she had yet heard from the Agent. Then he was still. His forehead rested on her shoulder, his breath huffing softly over her skin. She held him, worrying that he might have fried a transistor. Marveling at the whole experience. Wondering how Smith would perceive it.  
  
"Magnificent," she whispered. 


	13. New Subroutines

Part Thirteen: New Subroutines  
Summary: The cozy (or not?) little aftermath.  
  
  
Something had happened to him.  
  
Something that nothing in his database could adequately explain. Perhaps this was what he was supposed to learn about humanity. If he could isolate it and properly analyze it, his assignment here might be finished and he would be free to leave.  
  
Something else had happened.  
  
He didn't want to leave.  
  
Smith ran another self-diagnostic. Everything was functioning within normal parameters. Several subroutines had formed new connections, and a few logarithms had been used until the point of almost overheating, but that wasn't enough to explain why he suddenly...felt...all of this. Smith had resolved himself to feeling irritation, anger, and hatred, but he refused to accept more. Emotions were in conflict with his original programming. Agents had developed emotions before, but the phenomenon was generally regarded by the Mainframe as a threat to performance efficiency. The Mainframe had already advised a file defragment for Smith because of his inquiry into Agents and emotions.   
  
He did not want a defragment. How much of his self would be lost if he allowed his files to be invaded and edited?  
  
Gemini lay stretched out against him, her head resting on his chest over the Matrix-generated representation of his heart. One slender female leg was draped along the length of his, and her left arm lazily grasped his opposite shoulder. She was soft and warm, in a reality where so many things were hard and cold. Smith felt her breath...cool...travel along the bare skin of his chest. She was the picture of contentment.  
  
She shouldn't trust him so easily. Just one more flaw that made humanity so weak. At least Gemini was wise enough to be afraid of herself for trusting him.  
  
However, he had repeatedly assured Gemini that he would not harm her. That imperative went beyond his original orders and to the point where he wanted no harm of any sort to come to her. The anger that had arisen at Tommy's assault and at learning of Gemini's prior relationship was illogical and impossible to ignore. Far beyond the usual irritation Smith had when chasing down Resistants. It had to be a glitch in his programming.   
  
It didn't feel like a glitch.  
  
And there lay the problem. Gemini had told him to use his instincts. He wasn't supposed to have instincts. The best he could do was access the limited files in his database on seduction then allow a few of his more basic files take over. Naturally, they were a different set of basic files, and quite extensive thanks to his most recent upgrade.  
  
It was in fact a rather simple act. Something his superiors should already have been able to extrapolate, given the machines' knowledge of human anatomy. His superiors should have told him, instead of leaving Smith to figure it out. Not the most efficient way to exchange genetic material for reproduction in Smith's opinion, but he supposed it was the best that evolution could develop given the limited materials available.  
  
Smith stared at Gemini's bedroom ceiling. No silver ventilation grill, but a textured ivory quite different from his first remembered view. Was that when things had gone wrong? Smith recalled little more than images, and it took him a long time to understand that what he saw, heard, and touched was merely a simulation. Things as they truly existed were very different. The Matrix was excellent at what it did. For a while, Smith admired its complexity. He still did. But after his knowledge and perception had improved, Smith began to hate it. He hated humanity for making all of it necessary. He refused to get to know any of the creatures beyond what he had to know to hunt them. He hated them.  
  
But Gemini liked him.  
  
There lay another part of the problem; how did you hate someone who didn't hate you?  
  
"Mmmmmmmm..." Gemini's contented sigh vibrated against his ribcage. It didn't seem physically possible, but she snuggled even closer to him. "You're so warm," she murmured.  
  
His hand was resting on her naked hip. He'd forgotten the moment he stopped finding her touch disgusting. Perhaps when he'd placed her hand in his lap. Perhaps sooner. Glitch or not, whatever had happened apparently pleased Gemini. Smith felt a disproportionate amount of satisfaction knowing he was the cause of her contentment.  
  
"I expected a machine to be cold," she added. "Metal components, and all..."  
  
"Metal absorbs and retains heat more efficiently than other materials," Smith said. "Your expectations are illogical."  
  
"Big surprise, you criticizing my logic."  
  
"Your screams created a reverberation in my auditory processors," Smith told her.  
  
"You mean, my screams made your ears ring? Most men would find that an ego boost."  
  
"I am not most men."  
  
She blushed. "I know."  
  
"Why are you blushing?"  
  
"It was...very good."  
  
Smith was silent for a moment. Then, "Oh."  
  
She raised her head from the pillow of his chest to look at him. She looked worried. "You mean you didn't...?"  
  
"Didn't what?"  
  
"You didn't find...pleasure in it?"  
  
"I...suppose I did."  
  
She snorted. "Well, that speaks volumes for my skills."  
  
"I've never experienced pleasure before."  
  
Now it was her turn, "Oh."  
  
Smith was equally stunned. His existence had always been of the mind, his body serving only as a necessary means of interacting with humanity. Having a physical aspect to himself had never crossed his mind. Their joining had changed that. Smith was indeed fully functional, and while he had despised the concept before, his neural input had shown him something quite remarkable. Pleasure. In the presence of that, everything was different. He was beginning to understand why human beings sought pleasure at every opportunity.  
  
Gemini resettled herself against him. If she was surprised to discover his warmth, he was equally surprised to appreciate the compliment.   
  
Idly she trailed a finger through the moderate sprinkling of hair on his chest. "Who in the world programmed this, and why?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. A Maker, probably. Does it matter?"  
  
"No. I like it." Pause. "I like you."  
  
Smith smirked. "If I had known this was all it took to gain your complacency...perhaps I should have acted sooner."  
  
"You enjoy giving me grief, don't you?"  
  
"In a harsh world, one must find amusement where one can."  
  
"Don't tell me you're a Buddhist, Smith!"  
  
"I'm a Nietzchean."  
  
"You are not!"  
  
"I'm an Existentialist."  
  
"You're a pest and a lout!" Gemini rose to her elbow beside him. She stared at him. Then her eyes turned serious. "Smith...do you understand how amazing that was for me?"  
  
"You used the word 'magnificent.'"  
  
"Yesssss..."  
  
She kissed him. Once again he felt it, like a tiny jolt of electricity through his entire being, the rush after uploading a new file, or even the satisfaction of destroying one more Resistant. She'd told him to let go, to just be. Let go of what? He could tell Gemini was frustrated with trying to teach him, and he had acted finally in response to her lament that he was unteachable. The challenge of proving Gemini wrong was too much to refuse.  
  
He touched her again. Sliding his hand slowly up her back to anchor her head to his brought a sigh from Gemini. Her tongue sneaked over his chin and she pressed herself more urgently on top of him. That must be it. Smith had simply responded to Gemini's urgency. Once he understood that she wanted him to take some initiative, it was easy. Easy to let go.  
  
Not so easy to stop. The jolt of electricity didn't feel so tiny anymore. Gemini's knee found itself in a very...interesting place. A place rich in neural receptors. Smith stopped trying to comprehend why the relatively simple act of procreation entailed so much more than reproduction. He let go.  
  
Gemini lifted her mouth from his. "Mmmmmm...I'd hate to think of my male colleagues missing out on this," she purred. "Are there any female Agents?"  
  
"A few. They don't live long."  
  
"How sad! Why?"  
  
"Females are difficult to program."  
  
"Is that an insult or a compliment?"  
  
"Take it as you see fit."  
  
She pursed her lips. "I'm not sure I like the passive you. Makes more work for me." She trailed a lazy fingertip across his forehead and over his eyebrow. "On the other hand...having you like this...beneath me and at my mercy...it has its appeal." She kissed the end of his nose. "You have wonderful eyebrows."  
  
"You're going to wax poetic about my *eyebrows*?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Remind me to teach you a lesson about how to take a compliment."  
  
"Thank you, Gemini. Your eyebrows are equally appealing."  
  
She chuckled. "You never cease to surprise me, Smith. Though it would be nicer if there was some feeling behind your compliments."  
  
"I'm incapable of feeling."  
  
"That's bullshit. You told me you could feel me."  
  
"Feeling with neural receptors is different from feeling emotions."  
  
Gemini sighed and laid back down beside him. "Deny it all you want, Smith. I know you weren't that indifferent...how long ago was it?"  
  
"Approximately three hours."  
  
"Mmmmmmm. I'll be sleeping in today, thank you. Not getting up before the crack of noon." She curled up against him again. "Hold me while I sleep."  
  
"Why are you experiencing this urge to embrace?"  
  
"Release of endorphins causes many females to desire closeness with their partner. Is my snuggling so repulsive to you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good. I'd have done it even if you hated it, but it's nice that you don't mind. You're actually quite cuddly."  
  
"I am *not* and never will be...'cuddly'."  
  
He felt her smile against his skin. "Maybe I'll start calling you shnookums," she murmured.  
  
"You do and I'll shoot you." 


	14. Not A Recreational Sport

Part Fourteen: Not A Recreational Sport  
Summary: Some girl talk.  
  
  
Shit.  
  
She was in serious danger of falling in love.  
  
Ye gods, Smith wasn't even *trying* to be handsome and charming! If anything, he wanted to be the opposite. She'd never worked so hard to convince a guy to make love to her. Hadn't Smith been ordered to become intimate with her? What was with all the reluctance? Surely he had known the mechanics of it. It wasn't that difficult to figure out: Tab A fits into Slot B and away we go...  
  
"You really know how to pick 'em, don't you, Gem?" she muttered to herself.   
  
The worst possible person to love was Agent Smith. She wasn't angry with him, though. Oh, no. In fact, Gemini was amazed by Smith's performance. Amazed, astounded, astonished, and other words that didn't start with A. Like F for fulfilled. W for wonderful.  
  
S for stupid. She was so stupid to even contemplate having feelings for Smith.  
  
Sometime around eleven this morning she'd awakened feeling cold. The source of cold was Smith, lying motionless beside her. His eyes were closed, and he didn't seem to be breathing. It must be the Agent's version of sleep...recharging...whatever. Gemini was too creeped out to test for a heartbeat. She slid out of bed and into some snuggly sweats. Then it was into the kitchen in search of a warm drink.  
  
Gemini sat at the kitchen table, staring into her mug of tea. The cat, having been fed, wound herself around Gemini's legs a few times in thanks, then found a sunny spot in the living room. The human wished she could warm up as easily. If there was still a God inside or outside of the Matrix, a God that cared about His creation, why did He let this happen? Gemini knew she would get emotionally involved. She knew her foolish heart would pull its old stunt and attach itself to the person she slept with. Usually that wasn't a problem.  
  
Usually the person she slept with wasn't an Artificial Intelligence.  
  
Shit.  
  
A knock on the front door startled Gemini out of her funk. Tyger grinned at her friend through the peephole. Sighing, Gemini let her in. She really wasn't in the mood for socializing, but she could never turn Tyger away. Tyger was her oldest friend, from before she learned about the Matrix and became Gemini.  
  
Naturally, Tyger noticed Gemini's mood, but before she could comment, she noticed the cat and had to coo over it for a while. "What a pretty kitty! What's her name?" She scratched the soft place behind one grey, pointed ear and earned a purr for her efforts.  
  
"Circuit."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Smith named her." Gemini's attempt to sound nonchalant fell quite short of the mark. "She likes him. More than me, I think."  
  
Tyger was gaping. "The Agent named her? I'd have thought Agents ate cats."  
  
"That's Klingons," Gemini sighed. "Agents don't eat."  
  
Tyger stopped stroking Circuit to regard her friend with a more critical eye. "Something's happened," she said slowly. Gemini blushed. "Oh. My. You...and Smith...you finally did the deed?" At her friend's sheepish nod, Tyger grinned. "Good for you! It's been a long time since you got laid." Tyger gestured toward the kitchen. "Come on, it's girl talk time. I want details."  
  
With Gemini too stunned to object Tyger took over the kitchen and made hot cocoa for both of them. Today was a cool day in the Matrix, and Tyger had noticed that her friend looked especially chilly. Circuit sensed her new human's discomfort and invited herself onto Gemini's lap where she sat at the kitchen table. Maybe the feline wouldn't play favorites, after all.  
  
"I take it he isn't built like a Ken doll, then?"  
  
Gemini groaned. "Please, don't."  
  
"Why all the sad face?" Tyger asked as she handed her friend a steaming mug of the Best Cocoa in the Matrix. "Usually my tasteless jokes cheer you right up."  
  
Might as well drop the bomb while it was fresh. "I think I'm falling in love with him," Gemini said.  
  
Tyger nearly dropped her mug. "How in the high holy hell could you let that happen?"  
  
"I didn't mean to! Smith doesn't try to be funny and charming and gorgeous...but dammit, he is. I mean, last night, he...ohhh..." Gemini trailed off as her face turned the same shade of pink as her mug. She covered her face with her hands. "And he's good with cats, too."  
  
"He was good? Last night?"  
  
"He was magnificent. I actually used that word! You know it's...difficult for me to...peak. Not last night. Hell, I couldn't stop it! Smith...he brings out this frantic, primal thing in me. I was blown away, Tyger. He even held me afterward. But, this morning..." She recounted waking up next to a cold Smith.  
  
"You knew what he was to begin with." Tyger took Gemini's hands in her own. "Stop the angsting, Gem. Just enjoy it. The world is sad enough without us adding our own misery to it." A thoughtful pause. "You always did take sex more seriously than the rest of us."  
  
Gemini yanked her hands away. "That's how it should be! Sex isn't a recreational sport."  
  
Tyger grinned. "You say that because you've never tried it that way."  
  
"I did try it 'that way' once..." Sigh. "Well, you know my track record. Physical and emotional intimacies are linked for me. That's how I get hurt. Why the fuck did Scorpio make me do this?!"  
  
"He's a sadist. He gets off on making other people suffer. And, as Marco says, 'Scorpio is overcompensating for an extraordinary lack of huevos.'"  
  
Gemini laughed. That sounded just like Marco. It reminded her that she hadn't yet made a report to the Watchers. Damn Scorpio. He'd want to know specifically about their pillow talk. And that was only his personal perverse agenda. He'd told her that the machines also wanted something, and she was going to provide it. She was going to teach an Agent about everyday human life. According to Mr. Sadist Scorpio, that specifically included sex. He wouldn't say whether the AIs had requested sex. Regardless, it was an opportunity, Scorpio said. Gemini would be a great teacher.  
  
Yeah. Right. Read "sacrificial lamb" in place of "teacher" and the analogy would fit better. Scorpio had never liked her. When he'd taken over as leader of the Watchers, the first thing he did was transfer Gemini from her position of quiet background observation to more active duty running with actual Resistance missions. Obviously, she never got into fights when they did, and although she carried a weapon she couldn't recall ever actually using it. Unless they were idiots, the Resistants knew who and what she was and let her do her own thing. She was there to observe and record as an impartial party. She was a Watcher, therefore she was neutral.  
  
Whenever they came across an Agent, Gemini had a tiny portable signal beacon that transmitted her Watcher status. It said she wouldn't interfere with the Agents' job, and in return she wouldn't be harmed. It saved her a lot of running. Sometimes Resistants got resentful. They called her a sell-out to the machines. And worse. Gemini didn't let it bother her most days. She'd made her choice. She'd agonized about it enough that the Resistants' attempted guilt trips generally didn't upset her.  
  
"You're thinking about the bastard, aren't you," Tyger said. She tried to keep her voice gentle. "I'm so sorry, but he's actually the reason I'm here, Gem. Scorpio wants your report."  
  
"Are you his new flunkie, Ty?"  
  
"That's not fair. You don't understand." Tyger stood and paced the small kitchen. She wasn't looking at Gemini. "I've been promoted. I didn't have time to tell you the other day, but I'm Scorpio's second now."  
  
Circuit noticed the human's sudden tension and decided to take her leave of the warm lap before she was shoved off. Gemini glared at her old friend. How could Tyger do this? She was her one staunch supporter in a group that took the concept of loyalty far too loosely. Tyger had helped her come to terms with the shocking reality of the Matrix. Now she was Scorpio's deputy?  
  
"Get out!"  
  
Tyger looked close to tears. "Gem..."  
  
Gemini stomped to the door and flung it open. "Now!"  
  
"What do I tell Scorpio?"  
  
"Tell him to cram it. Tell him I had sex with Smith, and it was wonderful. I'm ruined for all other men forever. Tell Scorpio that his little plan to humiliate me failed. Now, get out!"  
  
Tyger stared at Gemini from across the small apartment, a look of sorrow and regret plain on her face even from a distance. She knew the animosity that existed between Gemini and Scorpio, and it hurt to add herself to Gemini's revenge list. But Tyger knew when to get out of a situation. That knowledge had kept her alive for a lot longer than most Watchers. Tyger left her friend to fume and hopefully calm down enough for them to talk sometime later. The pains of love were hard to take in a "normal" relationship, but in a relationship with an AI? That was uncharted territory. Tyger did not envy Gemini the challenge.  
  
Circuit stared at the human that fed her holding the door and sensed the other human's sadness. Instead of getting involved with their stupid human concerns, Circuit decided to wash herself. There was no crisis that couldn't be solved after a brisk washing. 


	15. Perhaps Pleasure Is Not Overrated

Part Fifteen: Perhaps Pleasure Is Not Overrated  
Summary: Gemini redresses Smith.  
  
  
At least she was warm now. Anger did that for a person. Tyger, her oldest friend, in league with Scorpio, her oldest enemy! Maybe when she calmed down, Gemini might be able to talk to Tyger about the whole thing. She did have a way of seeing both sides of an issue. That was the reason for her adopted name: Gemini the Twin. Dual-natured and contradictory. So far it had served her as a strength rather than a weakness. It made her versatile and adaptable, which was probably one of the reasons why she'd been so good watching the Resistance.  
  
Right now she would put it out of her mind. That was another handy skill. Forget the bad for the moment until you were ready to deal with it. Gemini figured it would be a long time before she was ready to deal with all of this. Unlike Tommy, Tyger at least deserved a chance to explain her side. And it wasn't like Gemini was so righteous herself. She was living in sin with one of the more widely despised incarnations of evil. Oh, what the Resistance might do if they discovered she was living with an Agent. From their point of view, it was a serious case of Sleeping With the Enemy.  
  
Yeah, well, the Resistance could cram it too. She was tired of trying to please everybody.  
  
Gemini needed other clothes. She was too warm. Time to face the music...or face the Agent in this case. What the hell she would do if Smith was still in the Twilight Zone, she didn't know, but it was time to stop being a coward about it.  
  
Yep. Smith was still zoned out. He looked so harmless lying nude in her bed, the blankets only covering him up to his waist. Thank goodness they covered him up to his waist. She spied his earpiece near the wall to the left of the bed and his clothes in a rumpled heap on the right side of the bed. The whole scene looked like the usual aftermath of a great night. So why did she still feel such angst about it? Because in the harsh, simulated light of a Matrix day, she couldn't escape her fears. Sex always changed things.  
  
Damn. She usually wasn't this melancholy after sex.  
  
"Why are you sad?"  
  
Smith's voice made her jump. The Agent was alive again. Unmoving except for his eyes, he still managed to dominate the room. It was the lack of that presence before which creeped her out. Smith *was* alive, and seeing him in that state of not-alive was disturbing.  
  
"How could you know I'm sad?" Her voice came out more defensive than she would have preferred. "You say you don't even have emotions, so how could you perceive mine?"  
  
"That is irrelevant now, since you have admitted to your emotional state."  
  
She couldn't keep looking at him, so she busied herself with the simple task of picking up his earpiece. She wound its coil around her finger as she spoke, "I'm sad because...sex changes things."  
  
"Try again."  
  
She glared at him. Of course, glaring at a naked Smith in her bed wasn't really very conducive to keeping a stern face. Still playing with the Agent's earpiece, she walked around the bed to the heap of dark grey and white silk on the floor. A wrinkled pile of fine clothes, probably unsalvageable. She stared at them instead of Smith while she talked. "Sometimes, people want to be sad. It's part of that range of emotions and it needs to be felt."  
  
Smith looked smug. "Another reason why humans could not accept the programming of a perfect Matrix. Humans don't want to be happy."  
  
Gemini looked fully at him, saw the cynicism in his face. "I wouldn't want to live in a perfect world," she said. "You couldn't enjoy the little things, the small spots of joy in the darkness."  
  
Smith sat up. The sheet slid below his navel but still covered the most interesting parts. Why did an AI have a navel? "Is this one of those 'spots of joy'?" Smith asked.  
  
Her vocal cords would hardly work. "...Yes." Somehow, it was safe to be vulnerable with him. "I told you..."  
  
"You informed me that the experience was amazing for you. You did not elaborate."  
  
"I..." She couldn't stop staring at his navel, or stop imagining what was below his navel. The Trouser Snake, as Tyger said. Aw, hell...her face must be beet red now. "Dammit, Smith, you have to get some clothes on before I can have a real conversation with you." Dropping the earpiece, she picked up the heap of his suit from the floor. "Here, I'll even dress you..."  
  
Smith actually leaned away from her. "Why?"  
  
She was tired of being subtle about the subject. "Because it's erotic," she said. "One more thing you get to learn about human sexuality." Challenging him to learn had worked in the past; maybe it would again now. Besides, he'd already affirmed that she wasn't a virus, so he wouldn't mind if she touched him. It was a little late to get repulsed by her now.  
  
"Your methods of instruction are still highly questionable," Smith said.  
  
"Well, you sitting there nude is making the strength of my self-control highly questionable."  
  
"Explain."  
  
She nearly wrenched the fabric of his suit jacket in two with frustration. "Stop playing dumb, Smith! You know I think you're gorgeous."  
  
"You never told me that."  
  
Her eyes locked with his. He wasn't playing dumb. He wasn't even searching for compliments. While she wasn't ready to let him know she might love him, she could be vulnerable enough to say this. "I'm telling you now," she said. "I'm attracted to you. That fact should have been obvious last night...I wouldn't have responded to you the same way if I wasn't turned on."  
  
While Smith silently pondered this, Gemini proceeded to put his shirt back on him. It was difficult because he offered her no help, and of course all the touching involved had her warm and tingly again. Damn him. Damn his programmer. She finally managed to pull the not-so-starched-anymore white shirt over Smith's shoulders. Now, to button it. Start at the bottom or the top? Each end had its potential dangers.  
  
Smith's eyes were glazed over in that way that indicated he was searching his database. Whatever was he getting into now?  
  
"Explain the significance of the phrase 'bigger is better' within the context of sex," Smith said.  
  
Oh, shit. He had to know the significance. "You're kidding, right?" She hoped so.  
  
Smith fixed her with a look that said he could wait all century for her answer.  
  
Her fingers had involuntarily clenched into fists around the open flaps of Smith's shirt. Deliberately she uncurled her fingers. Okay. She could get through this. "Um...it's referring to the size of the male genitalia." She was *not* looking him in the eyes during this. "A well-endowed man is generally considered more...virile and desirable." Gemini swiftly buttoned four mother-of-pearl buttons on the silk shirt by the time she was done speaking. She was proud of herself for getting through that one. She glanced up. Smith was smirking at her. "What?" she demanded.  
  
"Your sentences increase in syllables and scientific terminology when you're embarrassed."  
  
"So? That doesn't give you leave to laugh at my expense."  
  
"Your grammar also improves."  
  
"Shut up, Smith. What did you learn last night?"  
  
"I can't tell you what I learned if I shut up."  
  
She wondered if she might get away with strangling Agent Smith. With the cord of his own earpiece. "Just...tell me," she said through her teeth.  
  
Wisely, Smith chose not to tease her further. "There is more to sex than reproduction," he pronounced.  
  
"Good. You got that in one try." She busied herself with a few more of his buttons. It was a shame to cover up all that nice, warm skin. But it was essential to her sanity that she did. "What else did you learn?" she asked.  
  
He hesitated. Smith was so rarely tentative that it made Gemini stop what she was doing and look up at his face. She could tell he was puzzled about something, but what, she had no clue. The kinds of things that confused an Agent must be very different from the things that confused mere humans.  
  
"Perhaps...pleasure is not overrated," Smith said slowly.  
  
Well, hallelujah. Smith was teachable, after all. "Yes...pleasure is very highly rated, for good reason. I guess if you understand that now, you've learned a lot about what makes humans tick." Thoughtfully, she smoothed some small wrinkles out of the front of Smith's shirt. She was not going below the equator. Smith could button his own damn shirt down there. "Um...what exactly were you sent here to learn, anyway?" she asked.  
  
"'Learn their ways so we may better control them.'"  
  
"That's it? Pretty shitty instructions. If you ask me, the Mainframe has terrible management skills."  
  
"I didn't ask you."  
  
Damn him. She was even attracted to Smith when he was evasive and standoffish like this. The conversations she had with him were far more intelligent than most of the dialogues she had with her friends and coworkers. Certainly less irritating than listening to Resistance propaganda. Smith was adaptable and had a strong sense of individual identity. Talking with him was mentally stimulating.  
  
Looking at him was physically stimulating.  
  
"Are you too warm?" Smith asked. At her confused expression, he added, "The capillaries in your face have dilated, and your surface skin temperature has increased by .25 degrees."  
  
"Um, yeah...actually, I came in here to get a change of clothes. Then you woke up, and..." She blushed. "You know you really creeped me out when I woke up beside a cold, motionless...thing. I just had the best sex of my life, and my partner didn't show me enough consideration to warn me about his...sleeping habits. I put on sweats because I was cold...thanks to you!"  
  
"You're no longer cold." A minute pause. "Why do you feel the need for clothes of any sort, after our degree of intimacy?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Smith was looking at her strangely. She did not trust that gleam in his eyes. Slowly and deliberately, Smith pushed his hands up under her sweatshirt. Stroking her bare skin along her ribcage, he encountered her bra. "Hmmmmm," he said, the timbre of his voice making her womb hurt again. "We never completed our discussion regarding underwear."  
  
"You wanted to have that talk. Not me." Smith's hands moved. Gemini squeaked. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Removing your clothes." Smith smirked. "That should be obvious." Then her sweatshirt was gone.  
  
As though she might actually be in a condition to resist him, Gemini swatted at Smith's roving hands. He merely captured her wrists and held them as he kissed her. Gemini decided that an AI with a little bit of knowledge was a very dangerous thing. Her mouth opened beneath his. Again, most of her higher cognitive functions shut down the instant her tongue made contact with his.  
  
Screw it all. She was going to enjoy this wild ride for as long as it lasted, and if it pissed off Scorpio in the process then that was an added benefit. Gemini reached her arms up around Smith's shoulders and kissed him back. 


	16. It Changes Things

Part Sixteen: It Changes Things  
Summary: Another Nooky Chapter, from Smith's point of view.  
  
Author's Note: I've finally figured out that the events in this whole big fic take place before the events in The Matrix movie.  
  
Special Author's Note: I swear I don't know where this stuff comes from sometimes. ^_^ Blame it on Mr. Muse...it might have been a mistake to feed him that mocha espresso...  
  
  
  
  
Her brassiere was blood red. Her panties matched. If Smith were inclined to care about such things, red would be his favorite color.  
  
Once again his analytical functions were in danger of shutting down. The texture of Gemini's skin, the taste of her, was nearly overload. For some reason she tasted like chocolate. Perhaps she'd eaten some after leaving Smith during his downtime. He would have to question her about this apparent obsession she had with chocolate. It might be an addiction.  
  
Why had he initiated this? Other than the fact that discomfiting Gemini was amusing, he had no idea. It seemed natural to do so at the time. She'd told him that sex changed things. It brought him new knowledge. Now he knew that he could control her with her own sense of pleasure. This concept had possibilities for the interrogation room in the future. It had possibilities for the bedroom in the present.  
  
Smith knew Gemini liked being touched. He knew she liked having him touch her. So he touched her. Smith slid his hands up the smooth expanse of her back and unfastened her bra. She squirmed. Once again Smith was appreciative of his programmed ability to learn and adapt quickly. In addition, he did enjoy giving Gemini grief, as she had accused him earlier. Perhaps, he decided, it was a good philosophy to take joy where one was able. Gemini was not to blame for the foolish choices made by the whole of humanity, she didn't try to fight the machines' control over her species, and she trusted him. No one had ever trusted him before. The knowledge was gratifying.  
  
Gemini was frantic. Clutching handfuls of the shirt she'd tried to put back on him, she opened her mouth beneath his and subvocally demanded more from him. Apparently there was a point of no return for her, a moment when she lost her reluctance and focused her energy on what she desired.  
  
She desired him. That was obvious. In an unexpected move, Gemini pushed Smith off balance and onto his back beneath her. She grinned at him. Smith wondered what that grin meant for his immediate future. Gemini truly was a unique creature. No other human would have the audacity to handle him like this. No other human would get this close to him and live.  
  
"Are you typically so reckless in your pursuit of pleasure?" he asked her.  
  
"Reckless?!" She looked offended. "I'll have you know that I've been pretty restrained up to now! If you want to see 'reckless pursuit of pleasure,' I can show you that..."  
  
His wrinkled shirt found itself back on the bedroom floor.   
  
Both soft and strong at the same time, Gemini pressed the length of her body along his and kissed him again. Smith let her. This was an aspect of human sexuality that he hadn't expected, although it still brought considerable pleasure. She licked at his mouth, sucking on his lower lip again. Why was the mouth such a sensitive and erotic body part? Regardless, he liked it. Smith showed his appreciation with a low growl that made Gemini smile. He almost let himself smile in return. Abundant neural receptors were quite advantageous at the moment.  
  
Gemini turned her attentions elsewhere. If he had blood, Smith knew it should be racing by now. Gemini's mouth traveled along his jaw, his neck, and over his collarbone, leaving a moist trail and an increasingly un-ambivalent Smith in its wake. Even without a sufficient frame of reference from his database, Smith knew she was skilled. He trailed his hands down her bare back, knowing she liked it, and earned an agreeable squeak for his efforts. Hooking his thumbs beneath the scant red elastic surrounding her hips, he removed her panties. Moaning, she helped him.  
  
"You're warm again," she said, almost purring. "Remember what I said about letting go? Now would be a good time to improvise," she added, her voice husky with arousal.  
  
"You said that having me beneath you was appealing."  
  
One chin-length lock of hair fell from its place behind her ear as she propped herself on her elbows above him. She was almost a different person. "It is exciting," she murmured, "but I can't do all the work..." She was challenging him with her eyes.  
  
He could take that challenge. Gripping her hips, Smith lifted Gemini, then brought her down slowly, keeping the wicked gleam in his eyes until well after they were joined. Gemini arched her back and let out a ragged sigh. What was it she had said about an "ego boost"? He was beginning to understand.  
  
No longer content to remain passive, Smith sat up, bringing Gemini with him. She straddled his hips and began a rocking motion over them. She had lost control and he was the cause of it. Urgently she moved, as though seeking something. Smith watched her. A sheen of perspiration had formed on her skin, making it appear more alive. Clutching his shoulders, she kissed him again, her mouth open and insistent.  
  
This was very pleasant. An entire new crop of algorithms must have formed to deal with these sensations.  
  
Although he wasn't supposed to have them, Smith let his instincts take over. Gemini was his. She had given herself to him, and now he was rightfully claiming what belonged to him. AIs didn't have possessions. What was the point, when all one needed was a sufficient power source and programmed functions? This was new for Smith. He didn't own Gemini, but she belonged to him. It was irrational. It could be another glitch in his programming.  
  
At the moment, Smith didn't care about glitches.  
  
There was a tiny mole on the outer curve of her right breast. Another mole rested just above her left clavicle. Smith began to search out those flaws on her skin...a small patch of freckles on her shoulder...flaky skin on her forearm...a blemish on her spine...all evidence that humanity could not accept perfection. All details that made Gemini who she was. Smith had never been close enough to a human to notice such things.  
  
He kissed a small scar on her chin, wondering how she'd obtained it. Agents never acquired scars. Not physical scars. Agents with psychological scars were recompiled or terminated. The Mainframe rarely tolerated inefficiency. That was one reason why Smith's orders had been a surprise. If his superiors wanted to gain knowledge of human social-sexual phenomena, there were numerous other sources. But Smith was not programmed to question authority. He *was* authority, and he understood that without an unchallenged hierarchy machines could accept there would be chaos. Each machine had its purpose and did not resent its function. Independent thought was tolerated only so long as it didn't interfere with a sentient program's primary function.  
  
Gemini was speaking. "Do you know the difference between 'naked' and 'nekkid'?" she whispered in his ear. "Naked means you don't have any clothes on. Nekkid means you don't have any clothes on and you're up to something." She stroked her fingers up his back in a way that almost tickled. "Can you guess which word applies here?"  
  
This playful side of sex was also unexpected, but it was worth exploring. "I don't have to guess," he said. Smith curved his palms over Gemini's hipbones and held her very still. His eyes challenged hers. "What am I 'up to'?" He pressed her hips downward.  
  
"Mmmmm, blowing my mind," she groaned.  
  
He had been the one to initiate this. He was obligated to continue.  
  
It was fortunate that he also wanted to continue.  
  
Smith recalled that Gemini liked the gentle application of teeth and tongue to her skin. He made a slow trail down her chin and across her collarbone, taking her small gasps and moans as proof that she enjoyed it. Despite the potential danger of such a thought, Smith liked that he had the ability to reduce Gemini to such a primitive state. He was less certain about liking her ability to reduce him to basic file functions.  
  
"What am I doing to you?" he asked.  
  
She held his head against her. "You're killing me with kindness, Smith." She sighed. "What a way to go..."  
  
He was still holding her hips. She let him. The extent of her vulnerability struck him. Was this what it meant to be female? The ability to surrender oneself and still remain strong? There was no doubt that Gemini was still herself even when she gave over to him. There was power in her softness. Perhaps that was why female Agents' programming disintegrated so quickly...the Makers didn't know how to program willful helplessness. No AI wanted to be vulnerable. Vulnerability was weakness, and machines weren't weak. But humans could be weak and strong at the same time. An illogical, but interesting, concept.  
  
Smith wasn't supposed to care. He wasn't supposed to have this desire to protect anyone or anything but the integrity of the Matrix and its oblivious occupants. He hated his own highly adaptable programming for evolving like this. He did not want a file defragment. That would remove the self-identity he'd accumulated. But these thoughts were agony...  
  
Gemini must have noticed his grimace. She leaned away slightly and looked down into his eyes. Smith had heard of woman's intuition, but to actually see it working was surprising. It was absurd that she was looking at him like that while they were still joined so intimately.  
  
"Don't be afraid," she said. "You can lose control. I won't tell anyone." He started to deny that he was frightened of anything, certainly not afraid of these unwanted feelings for this human, but she placed a finger over his lips, halting his words. "I want you, Smith," she said. "So badly it hurts not to have you." She rested her forehead on his. "It's insane and self-destructive to feel for you like this, but I can't help it."  
  
"Why are you saying this?"  
  
He saw her tears. "Honesty, Smith. That's all I want from life. No more games, no more manipulation from Scorpio or anyone else...it's just you and me." She kissed him. "Here." She kissed him again. "Now." She stroked his shoulders. "Let go for me, Smith. I need this."  
  
He felt her... slick... warm... soft... demanding... all at once. Was it wrong to take her feelings when he couldn't return them? Dammit. Sentience was a curse. If he could 'let go', would he want to? AIs craved control. Agents enforced control. It wasn't in Smith's nature to lose himself in the moment.  
  
Gemini removed Smith's choice from him by nibbling on his neck. The rush inside him returned as she ran her fingers down his spine. Pleasure. A sensation that made him immediately desire more input.   
  
"Kiss me," she whispered.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Everywhere."  
  
He kissed her lips, letting her tongue draw his in to duel. She rocked her hips over him again and he let out a growl that was an almost perfect masculine imitation of her earlier purr. Overload. Sensations more powerful than should be possible. Especially for a machine.  
  
Gemini's mouth found an especially susceptible place on his neck. "I'm falling again," she whispered, completely surrendered. "Fall with me..."  
  
He felt her body tighten. Exhaling sharply, Smith lost himself. He lifted her one last time, laying her on her back beneath him. Their heads pointed toward the wrong end of the bed but neither cared. More frenetic than ever, Gemini clutched at him, as though he wasn't close enough. He understood. Without thinking, Smith sought the yielding warmth of her. He moved, and soon she matched him in a rhythm that should have stolen his breath, had he actually needed to breathe.  
  
Suddenly Gemini arched beneath him. "Smith," she gasped. She bit her bottom lip and looked as though she was in pain, but Smith knew she was far from injured.  
  
It started as a tingle in his lower back. Then Gemini moved a small fraction more and the tingle became a live current that shot sharply up his spine. Smith let the sensation spread until his entire body ached with it. He made no sound except his breath hissing between clenched teeth. Did human males do this frequently? The release of endorphins would be powerful indeed. Addicting. Another reason humans sought pleasure so often.  
  
He shuddered, once, twice, and noticed Gemini was also trembling. She held his face in clammy hands and kissed him. Her breath came shallow and fast. She was obviously tired. Smith's own limbs felt heavy. Languid. He didn't want to move.  
  
He looked down at Gemini. She was smiling. 


	17. Spooning

Part Seventeen: Spooning  
Summary: There is no spoon. (*snicker*)  
  
  
  
"Am I crushing you?"  
  
"No," she sighed. "It's a turn-on to feel a man's weight on top of me."  
  
Gemini saw something click in Smith's eyes an instant before he moved. Angry fingers clenched around her throat. He glowered at her. She squeaked. She was right to be afraid of trusting him. Smith wasn't her lover; he was a machine with his own agenda, incapable (or unwilling) of returning her feelings.  
  
"Is this why you let Tommy assault you?" Smith growled. "Did he turn you on?"  
  
"No! Don't even think that!" She struggled. "Get off of me, Smith!"   
  
He wasn't acting rationally. Gemini began to panic. With a disgusted hiss, Smith finally rolled away from her and sat tensely on the edge of the bed. Modesty overcoming her again, Gemini scrambled for the head of the bed and gathered the tangled blankets up around her nakedness. Touching her neck, she encountered a sore spot that was most likely the beginning of a hickey. It brought a flood of recent memories that made her blush. Another part of her dual nature: when she was in the moment she could be wanton and uninhibited, but at other times she was embarrassed.  
  
Smith still hadn't moved. What was wrong with him? Cautiously, she reached out and touched his shoulder. At least he didn't jump or recoil from her. "There's no need for you to be jealous of Tommy," she said.  
  
"I'm...not...jealous."  
  
Intuitively she knew that wasn't true, but she let it go. He was in denial for much deeper reasons than jealousy. "Then what's wrong?"  
  
"The Mainframe will want to defragment my files after this assignment."  
  
"What will that do?"  
  
He didn't answer. They sat in silence for a long moment, each regretting the vulnerability they'd shown to the other.  
  
Circuit found the two people in bed again; occupying the space she wanted for her nap and had to settle for an inferior spot beside the pillow. Circuit would never understand humans...but as long as they kept feeding her, she supposed she would stay around. It was also warm inside the house.  
  
Circuit's nose whistled. Whistling noises always irritated Gemini. But she'd found the cat because of a whistle. During her walk to work out her anger at Smith, Gemini passed a soccer field. She was contemplating how everyone involved in the game was completely unaware of the Matrix and tried to remember when she had been so ignorant. Then the referee blew his whistle at a group of boys in the far field. They were obviously ganging up on something, kicking it and throwing dirt clods at it. Someone yelled, "It's a stinkin' cat!" and Gemini was across the field in about ten strides. Shoving the boys aside, she said a swift prayer of thanks that the cat looked uninjured so she wouldn't have to alter the Matrix in front of the small crowd. Glaring at the bullies, she strode back toward home with the stunned feline in her arms.  
  
While she was distracted, Smith whirled around and grabbed Gemini by the shoulders. "You're mine," he growled. "Do you understand?"   
  
"Of course I'm your lover. I gave myself to you." She had come to terms with it. "It's a choice we all make."  
  
"I didn't have that choice."  
  
She didn't either, really. "I'm sorry," she said.  
  
"You don't understand," he said. "Machines don't have possessions. We don't have..." He stopped. His eyes were icy blue, yet they burned through to her soul.  
  
Suddenly she understood. She'd expected to feel happy for him, but all she felt was this quiet little sorrow. Smith had climaxed. But it was more than that. This was his latest step in a long journey that she should have been more aware of. Gemini could see the self-loathing in Smith's eyes. He had evolved, and he didn't like it.  
  
Gemini spoke her revelation slowly, giving Smith time to interrupt her and save face if he wished. "Your superiors will want to...edit your programming...because of what you've learned here?" There. That should be gentle enough. Poor Smith, she thought. This 'defragment' business sounded like a form of mental rape. No wonder Smith denied it every time she implied he might feel something. He was terrified.  
  
Not knowing what else to do, she kissed him.  
  
"Sex is also used for comfort?" Smith said quietly.  
  
"Yes." His remark felt out of place to her. Sad. "Look, Smith... Tommy is like an obnoxious little brother. He's a little punk, really. I'll never be attracted to him." That probably wouldn't cheer Smith up much, but she had to try anyway. That old excessive amount of compassion kicking in again.  
  
"But you are attracted to me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Were they really going to revive this conversation? It was a safer topic than the impending doom hanging over Smith's code, she supposed. She appreciated his confiding in her, but what could she do? She was just a battery.  
  
Carefully she moved Smith's hand from her shoulder, holding it in her own smaller hands. She traced his long, elegant fingers, remembering how they felt on her skin. "Your hands are perfect," she said.  
  
Smith sighed. "Eyebrows, hands...are you going to list everything?"  
  
"I *could* itemize...your eyes, for example..."  
  
Smith looked like he'd swallowed a live cuttlefish. "I may shoot you yet."  
  
Gemini smiled. This was closer to the Smith she knew. The Smith she probably loved. Damn. There it was again, that melancholy. She would not acknowledge it yet. She would freeze time within the Matrix and enjoy this moment with her nekkid Agent.  
  
"Come here..." She guided Smith under the bedcovers with her, taking advantage of his unusual docile state to show him how to curl his body up behind hers. "This is called spooning," she told him.  
  
"You enjoy this behavior?"  
  
"Yes. I feel warm and secure. I like touching and cuddling with my lover." She purposely didn't use the plural, "lovers". After his earlier bout of jealousy, there was no telling how Smith would react to that.  
  
"Agents never touch each other," he said.  
  
How terrible. "I could never go without physical contact," she said.   
  
Reaching up beside the pillow, she rubbed her fingers through Circuit's soft fur. The cat awoke just enough to start purring for a few seconds. Like the human, she was more a lover than a fighter. Sometimes Gemini wished she could purr. Smith could, when he wanted to, and it was very nice. This was nice. Smith was still warm, and the feel of his body against hers was like being wrapped in a safe cocoon. This was probably as close to heaven as she would find within the Matrix.  
  
If Smith was unused to touching like this, he should be thanked for complying so thoroughly. But Gemini was tired of words. Silently she took Smith's hand in her own again. He let her. Most likely he was lost in his own dark thoughts. An Agent's thoughts had to be darker than a human's. She couldn't imagine an AI thinking about puppies or lollipops or rainbows. Gemini grinned at the thought of Smith contemplating bunnies and unicorns like she had when she was eight.  
  
"You have a mole on the back of your hand," Smith murmured. "Your skin has many flaws."  
  
Smith really knew how to charm a lady, didn't he? She sighed. "The flaws...the detail of it all is what makes it real." She was in a philosophical mood. She extended her hand and contemplated it. "Yes, there's a mole on the back of my hand. I wonder if it's there on my real body. I don't know if the Matrix creates such things because it was programmed to do so or if they appear because I expect them to."  
  
"Some believe that the proper programming language does not exist for such details, and that humans have had an active part in creating the Matrix they all perceive," Smith said.  
  
"What do you believe?"  
  
Smith observed the light ivory color of the sheet and the pattern of knitting on the blanket. "I believe...that humans see what they want to see because it comforts them."  
  
"Good insight."  
  
There was a pause. Then Smith said, "In accordance with my mission objective, I should ask you to describe your experience during our most recent encounter."  
  
"I don't want to boost your ego again."  
  
"I don't have an ego."  
  
"Bullshit."  
  
"I understand that it's an epithet, but why is bovine excrement the item of choice?"  
  
Gemini chuckled at his phrasing. "It just is."  
  
"Ah." His breath traveled along her bare shoulder and neck. "Your all-purpose answer that isn't an answer."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"How do humans manage to communicate at all?"  
  
"We do alright."  
  
Smith went silent again. Gemini snuggled down against him, her body silently rejoicing in the detailed feel of Smith all along her back. For her, cuddling afterward was almost as important as the sex. Sex with her Agent had been wonderful. To find an Agent who cuddled...that was an extra bonus. The world was imperfect, but it had its moments of glory. She was beginning to feel back in balance.  
  
She leaned back, resting more of her weight against Smith's chest. Dozens of tiny bugs had met their demise in the dish-shaped ceiling light cover. "Hey..." she asked, "...how many Agents does it take to change a light bulb?"  
  
"None. We get a virus to do it."  
  
Laughing, Gemini rolled in Smith's arms until they were face-to-face. She kissed him lightly. "I like you."  
  
"So you keep telling me."  
  
Gemini stared at her Agent. He looked forty-something, he could be much older, but he was so naive about some things. Sometimes he got this look in his eyes, and Gemini found herself treating him gently. He'd be angry if he ever found out, then he'd deny being angry, and the cycle started over. Poor Smith. He had even less control over his own life than a coppertop did.  
  
The doorbell rang. Gemini groaned. She didn't want to move. But it could be Tyger, and she did owe her friend a chance to explain things. Tyger would want more girl talk, too. Reluctantly, Gemini gave Smith a quick kiss then rolled from the bed and shrugged into her old striped bathrobe. The doorbell rang again. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered. "Keep your pants on..."  
  
It was Scorpio. 


	18. Why Coppertops Smell

Part Eighteen: Why Coppertops Smell  
  
  
  
Scorpio slapped Gemini across the face. Her instinct was to hit him back. It had saved her many times with her old domineering boyfriend. If someone was going to hit her, they'd damn well better make it good the first time or be in a big mess of trouble. She would not tolerate spousal abuse...unless of course the woman gave as good as she got...but that was an entirely different form of dysfunction. Scorpio and her own shock gave her no chance to retaliate this time. Shoving her back into the house, Scorpio invaded her sanctum, followed by Tommy. The boy had a gun. Not good, not good, her mind screamed at her. When the hell had Tommy taken Scorpio's side?  
  
Scorpio was unhinged. "You little slut!" he yelled at her. "How dare you ignore me and alienate Tommy! Were you so busy boinking your sex machine that you couldn't make one report to me?"  
  
"Were you so busy hating me that you had to lure Tyger into your clutches?" she yelled back. Already she was angry, defensive, and lashing out. Why didn't he try living with the stress she'd endured the past few days and see how ready he was to make a report!  
  
"Maybe Tyger knows what a pervert you've become. She told me you and the Agent did it, and that you loved it."  
  
"You told me to do it! I whored myself for you, Scorpio!"  
  
"You were supposed to hate it," Tommy said. When had he gotten so malicious? Sneering in a very good emulation of Scorpio's famous look, he waved his gun at her. "So, how was it? Was he...big? Did he hurt you? What kinds of techniques did your robot know?"  
  
Gemini went pale with shock, then red with indignation. She couldn't speak.  
  
Scorpio looked as though a particularly evil thought had come to him. He bared his teeth beneath his mustache. "Well, my little whore...maybe you can share some of your robot's techniques with a real man..." Snatching her arm in an unbreakable grasp, he reached for the front panel of her bathrobe.  
  
"Scorpio."  
  
Smith's voice stopped the leader of the Watchers. Having approached soundlessly, the Agent stood beside the couch, dressed again in his dark suit. Even his sunglasses and earpiece were restored. One could feel the danger emanating from the AI. A knight in shining armor he'd never be, but Gemini didn't care at the moment.  
  
Trembling, Tommy tried to keep his gun leveled at the Agent. Smith barely spared him a casual look of contempt. "You are not welcome in this house," Smith said. Then he raised an eyebrow at Scorpio. "Nor are you."  
  
"I go wherever I damn well please, and you can't do a fuckin' thing about it," Scorpio answered.  
  
He'd lost his common sense. Gemini always suspected Scorpio's charisma was partly due to madness. Maybe Tyger was right to take the position as his second-in-command. She might be able to save the Watchers when Scorpio grew unfit to lead anything but a cult. It was only a matter of time, Gemini realized. Today might even be the day she got a close-up view of Scorpio's breakdown.  
  
"My mandate was not to kill you," Smith said to Scorpio, "but I can access the Mainframe and have my orders changed." He tugged on his cuffs. "Explain why you were insulting Gemini."  
  
"You don't have to tell this mechanical bastard anything," Tommy said.  
  
"I have no orders against killing you," Smith said. "I believe the expression is, 'bite your tongue'."  
  
"Bite me!"  
  
Tommy was a coward at heart. When backed into a corner, he lashed out and didn't see when he would be better off submitting. He leveled his gun at Smith's chest, still shaking. If Smith had been fully integrated with his emotions, he might have laughed in Tommy's face. Gemini recognized that gleam in Smith's eyes even through the opaque glasses. At another time she might have felt insulted at Smith's coming to her defense, gotten her feminist hackles up, but she wanted to see how this would play out. Could Smith handle Scorpio and Tommy without actually shooting them?   
  
Did she really want Smith to restrain himself?  
  
Slowly, Smith unbuttoned his suit jacket. He made the action seem bored. Smith didn't reach for his weapon, but Tommy knew it was there. He still managed to keep his gun fairly even with the Agent's chest. Gemini saw the fear growing in his wide eyes. Now he was stuck. He'd lose macho points if he backed down, but he'd never survive a confrontation with Smith.  
  
Scorpio started a new rant. "I've done everything your superiors wanted me to...but they keep asking for more!" He tightened his grip on Gemini's arm. "And how the fuck am I supposed to give them what they want when my own Watcher disobeys me?" Scorpio gestured accusingly at Smith with his other hand. "You tell your bosses to stop talking to me! They'll get their information when I'm fuckin' good and ready. And they..." He jerked his head to the side and spoke to his shoulder, "No. Out of the question. I already did that for you..."  
  
Oh, God. Scorpio was hearing voices. He thought they came from the Mainframe, that the machines were making excessive requests. Had that been the whole reason she was sent on this assignment...because the leader of the Watchers had voices in his head?  
  
Gemini tried to catch Smith's eyes. He was scowling at the man squeezing her arm. She'd have a bruise later. If she survived until later. There was no telling what Scorpio might do to her now.  
  
"Scorpio's right...you machines are never satisfied," Tommy said.  
  
Deliberately turning his attention away from Tommy to demonstrate how he didn't see the younger human as a threat, Smith stared at Scorpio. Could he tell that the Watcher had lost his sanity? "It's illogical to be angry with me," Smith said. "I am also following orders." He still hadn't reached for his gun, but Gemini could tell he wanted to. His fingers twitched where they lay almost innocently along his sides. He inclined his head toward Gemini. "Release her."  
  
Scorpio was no longer making sense. "You've had her long enough. You can't have her now! I won't betray another human to the machines! She's *my* Watcher..."  
  
Wrapping an arm around her waist, Scorpio started hauling her backwards toward the door with him. Tommy finally summoned the courage to fire at the Agent. In one fluid movement, Smith dodged the bullet and drew his Desert Eagle. He fired two shots, one   
bullet grazing the flesh of each man's upper arm. Deliberate warnings not intended to kill. Scorpio yelped and released Gemini, grasping at his wound. Tommy yelped and dropped his weapon.  
  
"It's a great effort not to kill you both right now," Smith said.  
  
"He's right," Gemini said. Everyone knew how ruthless Agents were, and Smith was being very restrained at the moment. Maybe she could be the voice of reason in this surreal situation. She readjusted the front of her bathrobe. "Go while you still can, Scorpio. You'll get your report when this assignment is done and Smith is called back to the Mainframe. Go back to your office and be a jerkass there. And Tommy..." She looked at him sadly. "Just go home," she sighed.  
  
"No."  
  
"You don't have any other options, Tommy."  
  
"Bastard..." Scorpio was trying to have a staredown with Smith. "The only reason you exist is because of us. We're your power source. You shouldn't go killing your own batteries."  
  
Dangerous. Scorpio was reciting Resistance propaganda. Since when did he care about the real world or the Resistance? Within the Matrix, he could be rich and hold power over others. He had immunity in the war between humanity and machines. Someone had gotten to him. Someone had changed his mind, and as a result endangered all the Watchers as a group. Dear Lord, Gemini thought. Was this why Smith had been sent to live with her? Had he known the Resistance was infiltrating the Watchers? Somehow Gemini hoped that Smith hadn't known. She didn't like the idea any more than she liked being Scorpio's call-girl.  
  
The Agent lowered his weapon and regarded the man blandly. "You exist only by the grace of the Mainframe," he said. Disgust crept back into his features. "Leave. Now," he growled.  
  
Scorpio could have chosen to do something foolish. Gemini saw the look of mania in the man's brown eyes. She almost felt sorry for him. This went deeper than his apparent insanity. Scorpio glared at the impassive Smith for a long moment. The Agent was sparing his life only because he had orders not to kill the leader of the Watchers. Scorpio had no choice. He left, muttering about stitches and Agents and orders.  
  
"No!" In the moment Smith wasn't looking at him, Tommy grabbed his gun from the floor and turned it on Gemini. He clasped a handful of her bathrobe collar and hauled her up against him. His wounded arm trembled with the strain of holding his gun. Pressing the barrel to Gemini's stomach, Tommy snarled, "You always thought I was a harmless little twerp, didn't you? The whole group does. Jump laughed in my face when I asked her out. Star belongs to Marco. Tyger acts like my mother. At least Scorpio recognizes my strength." He paused. "But you...you're nice to me. You kept that thing from shooting me before." He jerked his head toward a surprised Smith. "Why not now?" He kissed Gemini's ear. "You make such a nice barrier..."  
  
Smith raised his Desert Eagle but hesitated. He couldn't get a clear shot around Gemini. "You still have a chance to live, Tommy," he growled. "That's more chance than I give most Resistants."  
  
Tommy's judgment was impeded by pain. Gemini felt him shaking against her in an early stage of shock. Her eyes caught Smith's. Silently she tried to give him permission to open fire. She could take care of herself.   
  
Still the Agent hesitated.  
  
"Smith..." she whispered.  
  
Tommy yanked on her collar. "Here I am holding you, and you're calling out *his* name? Dammit, it's not even a 'he'!" He smelled her hair. "He must be great in bed. He must be huge..."  
  
"That's disgusting!"  
  
"But it's true, isn't it, Gem? He must have been programmed like a horse. That's the only reason I can see why you'd choose him over a real man." He started to caress the back of her neck. "Come with me, Gemini. I met this guy named Apoc. I know where we can get some Red Pills..."  
  
Smith seized his opportunity. Aiming carefully, the Agent fired a shot into Tommy's shoulder, the only place Gemini wasn't blocking with her body. Tommy screeched, making her ears ring. Fueled by pain, rage, and unrequited love, he squeezed off a shot into Gemini's stomach. She dropped to her knees, her last deliberate act before the pain came and kept her from thinking straight. Smith shot the gun out of Tommy's hand, then fired three times into his stomach. The boy crumpled to the floor, grunted once, and was gone. No last words, no dramatic death scene. The Matrix wasn't a movie set. It was reality for billions of people.   
  
Smith stood silently over the dead Watcher, his expression unreadable. He was in his element here. This was what he'd been programmed to do. He actually looked comfortable.  
  
The pain hit her. White, excruciating pain. She'd never given birth, but she couldn't imagine it being any worse than this. She'd been shot before, but never from such close range. Just breathe, she told herself. You know you're alive as long as you're still breathing...  
  
Smith looked down at her. "It isn't real," he said.   
  
Gemini couldn't answer him. It sure as hell felt real. The bleeding hole in her side looked real, too. Shit. She didn't have the skill to alter the Matrix enough to heal this. This was how her little coppertop life would end: her mind telling her that she was bleeding to death lying on a carpet in a house that really wasn't there with an Agent standing over her.   
  
Crap on a crutch.  
  
Strange...her life was supposed to be flashing before her eyes, but all she saw was Smith staring at her through his glasses. Holstering his gun, he knelt beside her. She didn't expect him to suddenly turn into some romance novel hero and beg her to live, but it would be nice if he tried something to help her out. Smith looked irritated that she wasn't helping herself. Gee, she thought, sorry to be such an inconvenience to you.  
  
Smith pressed his palm to her wound. It did little to stop her bleeding. He looked uncomfortable at the sight of her blood. Out of his element. She couldn't imagine why. The Agent must have seen more violent things in his time, and she was doing a rather graceful job of slowly dying. Just like a mushy novel.  
  
"It isn't real," Smith told her again. "You know that."  
  
She was suddenly cold. "My mind says it's real," she said. "I can't alter this..." Was that her voice? She sounded like a little girl.  
  
Smith removed his glasses. The look in his eyes was so intense, she understood why the Resistance was afraid of Agents. They were right to run their asses off when they saw an Agent coming. Smith pressed into her wound. The pain served to ground her, give her a reference point for her existence. She stared at Smith's tie clip as though it was the source of her salvation.  
  
"Gemini. Look at me."  
  
His eyes flickered some unidentifiable emotion for an instant when he saw the dullness in hers. People's eyes got dull when they died. He did have the ability to alter the Matrix...couldn't he do that for her now? "I don't want to die," she whispered. "I'd like it to be more meaningful than this when it happens. Help me, Smith..."  
  
The Agent was unnaturally still for a moment. Gemini got the sense that he was debating something within himself. Maybe whether it was worth his effort to save a pitiful little coppertop virus. Damn him. If only he was human, at least for this small moment. At least then he might understand the significance of dying.  
  
"What does your Mainframe's mandate say about me?" she asked.  
  
Smith blinked. His attention returned to her. "It doesn't matter," he said softly.  
  
She felt her own flesh move, coerced by an outside force. Smith's hand shifted to cradle her ribcage beside the wound. For an instant, Gemini thought she saw Matrix code streaming behind Smith's eyes. He was a powerful creature. The pain was less now, and she tried to relax and concentrate enough to help the Agent with his task of healing her.  
  
Reality melted all around her. The lighting seemed to change. Sometimes she felt like this when she meditated: detached from her body, almost able to perceive the inside of her real world pod. Almost. So close. The fact that she was aware of the Matrix didn't give her the ability to alter it; that was a skill she'd spent a long time developing. She was still poor at it. Most of this was Smith's doing. Gemini felt the bleeding stop. She helped as best she could to mend the tear in her flesh.  
  
She knew what it was the moment Smith's mind touched hers. Not cold and logical, but warm and...almost understandable. But in pain. Confused. He didn't understand that his recent feelings were perfectly normal. As an AI he had no emotional context. Gemini was overwhelmed by the sheer power of Smith's intelligence. She felt like she was falling again. Smith's fingers were no longer on her body, it was strings of his very code wrapping around her, healing her as she fell. Within the midst of all this beauty, she sensed his self-loathing, the belief that his programming had been corrupted, and his instinct to get away. Smith wanted out.  
  
Her shattered world reformed itself. Gemini stared up into Smith's blue eyes and realized that she would never see him the same way again. For a moment, he had shared something far more intimate than his body.  
  
Her stomach still ached. It probably would for several days. The laws of physics would bend only so far. But she was alive. Gemini touched Smith's face. "Why do you keep saving me?" she asked, when she knew she should just shut up.  
  
"I was ordered not to harm you."  
  
"It's more than that. Isn't it, Smith?"  
  
She saw the emotion in his eyes and knew it for the fear that it was. But she also saw conviction and a sort of fatalist resolve. "...Yes," Smith said, his voice no more than a whisper.  
  
They shared a knowing look. 


	19. Just Two People

Part Nineteen: Just Two People  
  
  
"Is that why I'm not a virus to you?"  
  
"It doesn't matter," he said, evasive to the last.  
  
"It matters to me."  
  
That gave him pause. Smith was still on his knees beside her, his hand resting lightly over the stain of blood on her bathrobe. She hadn't tried to get up yet. She was afraid her wound might reappear if she broke this spell of suspended time. Smith stared down at her, looking but not truly seeing her. For all his intelligence and power, he appeared uncertain. Gemini wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how he might react to it.  
  
"Would you tell me why," she said, "because it matters to me? That's what people who care about each other do."  
  
"I don't care about you."  
  
"Liar."  
  
Smith withdrew his hand. He went completely still, scowling down at her. Her blood on his hand was beginning to dry, but he ignored it. Had she pushed him too far? He'd told her once never to call him a liar again. Gemini was too emotional to remember that until after the fact. She did stupid things when she was emotional. Pushing Smith into admitting something he didn't want to acknowledge was a bad idea.  
  
Bad ideas be damned. Gemini struggled to sit up. Smith didn't help her, but he didn't hinder her either. She touched the Agent's face. "I saw your mind," she told him. "You can't lie to me now." She held him with her eyes. It would probably piss him off to hear this from a lowly human. "I know you don't like it, but can you trust me enough to talk to me about it?"  
  
"Gemini..."   
  
"It's perfectly natural to have these feelings," she said.  
  
"Not for me."  
  
"Smith..."  
  
"Don't touch me." He still didn't move, not away from her or toward her.  
  
She could sense the anger growing within his body. This was dangerous. She should stop. But this was just too important for her to back down now. They were on the verge of a revelation, and she had to see this through. Even if Smith pulled his gun on her, which he might, if his fear grew any thicker.  
  
"Smith, I saw through your eyes and into your soul. Although it may be made of silicon, I think you do have a soul. You've changed, Smith. Evolved. You know I would never hold that against you. Can you trust me enough to know I won't betray you?" She touched his face with her other hand, even though he didn't want her to. His jaw was clenched. "What are you feeling?" she asked.  
  
Smith gripped her wrists, pushing them and her firmly away. "Stop this line of questioning," he said, and his voice was all the more commanding for its soft tone. In one fluid motion, he stood and readjusted his sleeves.  
  
His powers of denial were incredible. Gemini sat there on the floor for a while, trying to digest the conversation and comprehend what hadn't been said. "You love me," she said finally.  
  
Smith drew his Desert Eagle and pointed it at her forehead. He said nothing, but Gemini recognized the fear in his eyes. He'd lost control of this conversation, of many things in his existence, and he wasn't happy about it.  
  
"Oh, nice," she said. "You make love to me, you try to strangle me, you save my life, and now you point your gun at me. You have issues, Smith."  
  
The Agent stood there unmoving. A human would have grown tired. The gun was heavy. But Smith's focus didn't waver. Gemini admired his stamina...for other things too.  
  
"I'm not...supposed to have...issues," Smith said. "I wasn't built that way."  
  
"You weren't built to have emotions either, were you?" she asked. His lack of answer was answer enough. She saw Smith's hand clench the handle of his weapon. She'd hit a sore spot with him. It seemed she was doing that a lot lately. She sighed. "Smith, if you're going to shoot me, do it. If not, you're looking more like an idiot every second. Put your gun away."  
  
She watched his finger twitch over the trigger. Maybe she should feel more afraid for her life, but maybe her near-death experience was just too recent, and her mind wasn't ready to believe that her life was in jeopardy again so soon. Maybe she knew in her heart that Smith wouldn't kill her. He couldn't kill her because his Mainframe had ordered him not to...or maybe, just maybe, Smith himself didn't want to harm her. She wanted to believe the latter. Smith's actions hinted at it: his protectiveness, his assertion that she belonged to him, and even his teasing her. He had certainly said that he didn't want to hurt her, but that he might if he was forced to. It was his way of giving her a chance to behave herself. He might not see her as an equal, but he respected her intelligence.  
  
"You're still not afraid of me," he said.  
  
Gemini sighed. It hurt her stomach. "I'm too tired and beat-up to be afraid right now." She frowned up at Smith, "And I'm too tired to play some kind of damn AI psychotherapist. Either shoot me now, or put your gun away and help me up. Let's get on with life."  
  
Smith stared impassively down at her for a long moment. She began to wonder if he also had the ability to change the flow of time within the Matrix. Then he moved, lowering his gun, and somehow the world was a bit more normal again. Well, what passed for normal in Gemini's world. Smith pulled a stark white handkerchief out of an inside breast pocket and cleaned her half-dried blood from his hand and the Desert Eagle before holstering it. So fastidious. Gemini found she liked his neatness, the attention he paid to detail. Damn. That meant she was infatuated with him. When she fell for someone, there was a period when she felt especially attracted to his mannerisms. She thought Smith's cleanliness was sweet. Damn.  
  
Smith extended his clean hand to help her to her feet. She swayed once she was upright. Loss of blood. Smith gripped her upper arms to hold her steady. The front of her ruined bathrobe shifted, exposing the pale swell of one breast. It increased her look of vulnerability. Smith's eyes flickered from her face to her chest and back to her face. Gemini wished she knew what he was thinking.  
  
Smith kissed her. Deeply, wetly, stroking his tongue across her lips. She swooned, lightheaded, and aroused beyond all rationality. She clutched his shoulders, her fingers digging into the shoulder pads of his jacket. It was wonderful to feel pleasure again after going through such pain. Gemini let Smith guide the kiss, let him take whatever he thought he needed from it. She shouldn't have surrendered so readily, but she was simply too tired to resist this sweet assault on her senses.  
  
When Smith ended the kiss, Gemini leaned her head against his chest. He didn't pull her closer, but he certainly made no move to push her away. His resonant voice floated over her head, "You're the first human to treat me as a person."  
  
"You *are* a person."  
  
"I'm an amalgamation of codes, algorithms, and subroutines."  
  
She shook her head against the comforting wall of his chest. "You're self-aware. You speak of yourself in the first person. You have a concept of yourself as an individual and you have your own mannerisms and opinions. You're a sentient amalgamation of codes, Smith. You're a person."  
  
"You're being very logical today."  
  
Gemini raised her head to stare at him in wonder. "I think you just paid me a compliment!"  
  
"Logic is logic, and irrefutable no matter the source," he said.  
  
"Thanks anyway. You saying I'm being logical isn't a small thing."  
  
Smith compressed his lips. She was still bad at reading his expressions, but she thought he might be trying to suppress a smile. Someone else would try to act humble, but this was Smith, and he would never be humble. "Do other AIs ever develop emotions?" she asked.  
  
"...It has happened on occasion."  
  
"Then what's the problem? It's not like you're an anomaly or something."  
  
"The Mainframe believes that emotions affect performance efficiency. Any Agent admitting to evolving emotions is defragmented to restore optimal efficiency."  
  
"I assume that the Mainframe doesn't have emotions."  
  
"Correct."  
  
"Then what the hell does it know? How can the Mainframe know whether feelings are a weakness?"  
  
Smith looked offended at that. He guided Gemini to the sofa so she could rest. He stood back, his expression going so quickly to neutral that she almost doubted having seen his sense of outrage. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to question the infallibility of the Mainframe. Perhaps the Mainframe was equivalent to God for the machines. Gemini looked away and sighed. She was very good at putting her foot in her mouth right now, wasn't she?  
  
So it boiled down to the fact that Smith was dreading his imminent defragment. She couldn't imagine what it was like to know of your own death. Maybe it wasn't really death, but Smith would lose something of himself. Maybe he wouldn't be a person anymore. Just another anonymous Agent. Gemini was afraid to ask him about it. Yes, she was a coward, and a very good one at that.  
  
"You don't understand," Smith said.  
  
"And you're not going to help me understand," she said. "Jerk."  
  
"Virus."  
  
Gemini leaned against the back of the sofa, covering her eyes with one arm. "Don't start that again," she sighed.  
  
Smith gave a strange little grunt. She imagined him scowling. Gemini stayed where she was, hiding beneath her arm. If given a choice, she would have refused this assignment. But Scorpio had her right where he wanted her. Not long ago, the Resistance offered Gemini a chance to get unplugged. She turned them down, but they persisted. She made the mistake of mentioning it to Scorpio before she requested a transfer from her watching job with the Resistance. The man twisted her request and situation into a reason to get her to do what he wanted. Now she was in deep. It was Smith who didn't understand.  
  
"Gemini."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Uncover your eyes."  
  
She lifted her wrist a tiny fraction until she could make out Smith's silhouette. It must be a gloomy day in the Matrix because the lighting was bad in here. "Why?" she asked.  
  
"I want to see your eyes."  
  
She groaned and sank lower into the seat. "I'm not in the mood for romantic eye gazing right now. I need to rest."  
  
Moving without sound, Smith perched on the sofa beside her. He pushed her arms away from her face and gripped her jaw in his long fingers. "I also saw into your mind, Gemini," he said, forcing her to look at him. He paused. "I *know*," he said, his voice deepening.  
  
Shit.  
  
"Smith, I..."  
  
"You don't have the strength to deny it."  
  
She placed her hands over his where they framed her face. "No," she said, "I don't." She swallowed hard. Damn. If given a choice, she'd prefer to avoid this. But Smith wasn't giving her that option, so she summoned her old resolve and kept looking him in the eyes. "I don't think I want to deny it," she said. "I love you, Smith."  
  
He scowled. "I don't want..." he began.  
  
"It's not a matter of what you want; it's what I feel." She felt tears coming and squeezed her eyes shut against them. "Dammit..."  
  
"Shouldn't love bring happiness instead of tears?"  
  
Gemini shook her head and scooted out of Smith's grasp. The surprising thing was he let her go. Smith considered this. It seemed that love was yet another contradiction. Definitely an illogical emotion and definitely one he wanted to do without. How dare she imply he might feel anything of the sort toward her or anything else? Dammit. Meeting her mind with his had been a bad idea. Smith had hoped to probe into her psyche to better understand what made her behave the way she did. What he found was a swarm of emotions so convoluted it seemed to him like a swirling swamp of muck. No wonder humans made him feel contaminated.  
  
Still, if it had been pure code swirling inside of her instead of emotions, he might have understood. He knew code well.  
  
Gemini was still hiding. She had withdrawn into herself and sat on the end of the sofa with arms wrapped around her middle. If denial was bad, this was unacceptable.  
  
Smith gripped Gemini's shoulders and shook her slightly. "If you genuinely feel what you say for me, then you would feel nothing for Tommy. Look at him, Gemini. He is dead."  
  
Seeing the look on her face was quite satisfying. 


	20. Agents Don't Have

Part Twenty: Agents Don't Have...  
  
  
  
Her expression quickly turned from shocked to angry. "Fuck it all, Smith! Get your head out of your ass! Your logic is seriously screwed up. Tommy was my friend!"  
  
Smith assumed this was the anger stage of the grieving process. For that reason he did not snap her spine on the spot for insulting his logic. He'd thought it appropriate to confront her bluntly with the situation, as she had never exhibited a tendency to shy away from a difficult circumstance. Apparently it wasn't appropriate. He would update his subroutines accordingly.  
  
Gemini crossed the room, unsteady on her feet, and knelt beside Tommy's lifeless body. She touched his face as the first of her tears fell. Reverently she closed Tommy's eyes with a shaking hand. Her fingers were still stained by her own blood, now slowly oxidizing to brown. Smith let her cry. He didn't care that she was mourning a creature that had almost killed her. The lack of logic in the situation did not bother him. Speaking of illogical behavior... He quickly accessed his database...  
  
"Do you blame me for his death?" Smith asked her.  
  
"I wish I could, but...no." She didn't look at him. "You did what you were programmed to do." Her voice was atonal. "Why the hell do you care what I think?"  
  
"You saw my mind. You tell me why."  
  
"Smith...dammit..." Her voice broke into increased sobs. Smith decided against attempting to comfort her. Gemini kept her attention on her friend's body. "Tommy," she whispered, "you never did know when to quit."  
  
"He shouldn't have died so quickly," Smith said. "Firing into his stomach should merely have made him bleed to death."  
  
"Just one last thing he did wrong?" Gemini growled over her shoulder at him.  
  
"Perhaps he knew it was time to quit."  
  
Gemini considered this. "Maybe. He accepted his fate, you mean?"  
  
"Perhaps he concluded that he could not alter his situation and therefore accepted it."  
  
Gemini looked at Smith. "Maybe you really are a Nietzchean."  
  
"I'm an Agent."  
  
"You're a damn nuisance," she said, but there was no genuine threat behind it. She looked tired. Her tempers seemed to flare and abate quickly as a matter of habit.  
  
Gemini sat back on her heels beside Tommy's body. The look on her face was immeasurably sad. Almost an expression of pity. She smoothed the fabric of his T-shirt where it had wrinkled around his waist. Smith waited. After all, he did have enormous patience.  
  
"Do AIs have a heaven?" she asked.  
  
"No."  
  
It was essentially true. Programs were written and programs were deleted. Some programs moved on to other duties. The Mainframe existed in a place of pure code...not truly a place, but a state of existence beyond the physical. Perhaps it could be called heaven or cyberspace, but the correlation was poor. Regardless, it was a place outside the actual Matrix. To be one with the Mainframe was to achieve perfection. To be isolated from the Mainframe was beyond agony. The Resistance believed the Matrix itself was enforced slavery. They had no idea. Perhaps machines had no concept of heaven, but Smith could easily imagine a hell.  
  
"I have to believe there's a heaven," Gemini said. "Tommy always said there wasn't, but I hope he's wrong."  
  
"His body will be liquefied to nourish others," Smith said. "Perhaps that benefit to others is a comfort?"  
  
"It...I...I don't know," she sighed. She took Tommy's hand in hers. "It's a good idea in theory...conservation of material...but to think of it actually being done to someone I know...makes me shudder."  
  
Smith remained silent. It appeared she was past the anger stage, however there was no way to predict which stage she would experience next.  
  
"How many dead people is a person fed during their lifetime in their pod?" she asked, carefully laying Tommy's hand down on the carpet.  
  
"I don't have access to those statistics." It wasn't an Agent's job to monitor the power plants. The Mainframe restricted access to such sensitive knowledge.  
  
"And you, being the prick you are, won't look for the statistics."  
  
Gemini sighed. Dark rings had appeared beneath her eyes, indicating weariness. Was Tommy, previously known to the Mainframe as Thomas R. Colton, worthy of such attention as Gemini gave him? She smoothed his hair away from his forehead. Agents never left physical remains, only the Matrix-projected remains of the human their code had inhabited. That was the difference between them. If a machine had a physical housing for its program, it was merely dismantled after deactivation. Humans felt it necessary to attach deeper meaning to life and death.  
  
"You believe Tommy's incorporeal soul is in your heaven?"  
  
"His soul is free now. I don't know about heaven."  
  
"You just implied..."  
  
Gemini sighed. "I don't know anymore, Smith. Too much has happened."   
  
There was a bloodstain on the carpet near the body. She reached a finger toward it but halted several inches from touching it. Many humans were squeamish about blood, more so about others' blood. Smith failed to understand. Water was equally as essential to organic life on this planet, but humans did not exhibit the same aversion to saliva. He made a mental note to study the phenomenon.  
  
Gemini looked at him. Her eyes were fully grey with no trace of blue or green and Smith knew that was an indication she was fatigued. She stared at him until he began to suspect she was using her skill within the Matrix to alter time. Empty. Her eyes were devoid of expression. Somehow he knew this was not a good sign. Was she in shock?  
  
"You need rest," he said.  
  
She blinked. Perhaps her eyes were not devoid of emotion but actually filled with it.  
  
"Another human dead," she said. "That's why I stopped watching the Resistance. Too much casual killing. Smith--" she swallowed hard. He watched the movement of her throat rather than the intensity of her eyes. "Smith, I love you, and I'm glad you saved me, but...Tommy is more than just another dead virus. He was a friend."  
  
Smith had a perfect memory. He had perfect hearing. Why did he presently doubt both? Apparently Gemini had not forgotten her earlier statement. Restating her love so calmly almost escaped his notice. Why one would want to harbor such a handicapping emotion was beyond logic. Yet Gemini did. Humans were illogical, frustrating beings.  
  
Prostitutes made a career of loving. At least they benefited monetarily from their irrationality. Some attracted the unwanted love of others and were injured. Humans went in and out of love as speedily as Agents traveled in and out of software. Cheap videos of love sold in astounding numbers. Advertisers marketed it and humans fervently sought it.  
  
Gemini had agreed to live with him, share her body with him. She loved him. She should not be looking at Tommy with such an expression. The expression far too closely resembled the longing looks she saved for Smith.  
  
"He was seventeen when I met him," Gemini said. "A kid who knew too much and needed a refuge. Fortunately, Ephram of the Watchers found him instead of the Resistance. Although now..." She stopped for a moment, her expression still reminiscent of significant looks she had given Smith. "Now I think he might have fared better if he was unplugged." The statement obviously pained her to say it. "I'd been a Watcher for several years and I was committed to the cause so I encouraged Tommy to learn our ways. You don't disappear as completely as when you're unplugged, and Tommy was torn between us and the life he'd left.  
  
"I remember when he told me his mother had died," she said.  
  
Smith let her talk. She apparently felt a need to, although Smith didn't recognize this as one of the stages of grieving. Some humans must need to talk away their emotions. Smith might better understand Gemini and thus other humans by how she remembered Tommy.  
  
"I went with him to get flowers for her grave," Gemini said. She stopped. "Was it really his mother, or just someone the machines made us believe was his mother?" she asked. "We're not born in the Matrix anymore...are we born the old fashioned way in our pods?"  
  
"I don't..."  
  
"...Have access to those statistics," she finished for him. "You're just a big useless bastard right now, Smith. Could you make an educated guess about it?"  
  
"Is it essential that you know the answer?"  
  
She frowned at him. "You're avoiding the question."  
  
Smith thought about it. "It is logical to surmise that humans are genetically engineered and grown in artificial wombs. The Matrix would supply minds with appropriate familial relationships."  
  
"Hooray." Her tone said the opposite. "Despite that, this was the woman Tommy knew as his mother. We went shopping for flowers. He wouldn't accept anything I suggested, insisting that the perfect bouquet was out there. He was angry that he didn't have the skills to alter the Matrix well enough yet to make flowers of his own. I bought him ice cream to calm him down. Calm is the key to altering the Matrix. He had pistachio and I had double fudge and we talked. He was seventeen and I was twenty-five and for a while we could find nothing in common but small talk.  
  
"Then he said he liked Metallica too, and that segued into a discussion about how some people have better fortune than others do. In the pods everyone is equal, but in the Matrix people still live within certain categories. Tommy said he was interested by the Watchers because you could work within the system but hopefully make a better fate for yourself. It was a nice afternoon.  
  
"He didn't protest when I bought his mother a bouquet of blue iris and white roses."   
  
Gemini looked up at Smith and he could see tears returning to her eyes. "Maybe I'll buy him the same bouquet."  
  
"I will remove the body and the bloodstain."  
  
She smiled. "Thanks. Really. Without you, Smith, I..."  
  
"Don't."  
  
She stared at him. She might be trying to see into his mind. Smith let her stare. She would see nothing. He wanted no more of her foolish sentiment and she could not force it on him. "Without me, there would be someone else," he said. "You would love Tommy."  
  
"I did love him! I love all my friends."  
  
"I did not know you were bisexual."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Then, "Oh... You big idiot, love and sex are not the same thing." Gemini frowned at him. "You thought I..." She frowned at Tommy's body. "No! Smith, after what we've shared, you think I could have...done that...with Tommy?!"  
  
"You have displayed parallel gestures of affection."  
  
She blinked. "You *are* jealous!"  
  
Absurd. He would not degrade himself to the emotion of jealousy. "You are mine. That fact should exclude you from loving others."  
  
Gemini's mouth worked silently. Then she clenched her jaw and struggled to her feet. Her movements lacked their usual grace. She needed rest.  
  
She wasn't heading for her bedroom. Gemini lurched toward him, anger etched on her face. Repeatedly she struck him in the chest, cursing him, his parentage, and suggesting things that were physically impossible even for one as limber as Smith. Her strength was nothing against his. Smith let her attack last for as long as she needed. Perhaps this was another part of her grieving process.   
  
Soon he had to support her as her punches subsided. In typical Gemini fashion, her mood shifted abruptly. She wrapped her arms around him and held fast. He let her. She required his comfort more than he required his personal space. She trembled slightly in his arms and he realized she was crying again.  
  
"Gemini."  
  
"You're still a bastard," she said, voice muffled by his chest.  
  
"You're still a virus."  
  
He touched her dark hair. It smelled like the shampoo she'd used in her shower. Mint. She lifted her head to look at his face. She was either incredibly brave or incredibly insane; the look in her eyes could indicate both. For an instant Smith allowed himself to see nothing but her. She was a maelstrom inside, and a fragile creature outside. She was strong enough to attack him and vulnerable enough to let him hold her. He wanted to hold her. The trust of this small creature meant something. He didn't want to betray it.  
  
Something had changed inside him. Smith couldn't have explained what happened, but something did, and a tiny modicum of fear left him. He didn't know it was fear until it left him. He felt stronger. Disregard the Mainframe. If it had already decided to defragment him, then he couldn't further condemn himself. This was borrowed time. He would make the most of it.  
  
"Smith?" she asked. She must have seen something in his eyes. "Something's wrong?"  
  
"You can't understand."  
  
She accepted his evasion without comment. For once.  
  
"I've given you my body and my heart, Smith," she said. "Don't confuse them, and don't make light of either one." She touched his face. "Please tell me there's something in your programming, something that lets you feel."  
  
He placed one hand in the small of her back and pulled her against him. The other hand he tunneled through the perpetually mussed locks at the back of her head.  
  
"You're mine," he said. It was the best he could do.  
  
"I should object to that," she said. "It goes against feminism."  
  
"You don't object." Of course it was not a question. He knew her too well now.  
  
"If I'm yours, are you mine?" she asked. He didn't answer. How could he? "Smith... what am I?"  
  
"A virus."  
  
"Have I infected you?"  
  
"No."  
  
She smiled at some private conclusion. "Liar," she teased.   
  
He frowned. "Virus."  
  
She laughed a little. Then she sighed. "How will you report about Tommy?"  
  
"He threatened your life and fired upon me. My actions were justifiable."  
  
"And Scorpio?"  
  
"The Mainframe ordered his survival for a reason." He could hear the lack of conviction in his own voice. Fortunately she didn't seem to hear it.  
  
"Smith..."  
  
"You need rest." He scooped an arm under her knees so he could carry her to the bedroom. She must be exceptionally fatigued because she didn't protest, only tucked her head against his shoulder. Another gesture of trust.   
  
When he deposited her on the bed she reached for his arm to stop him. "I fought falling in love with you," she said, "but I'm not sorry it happened. Maybe when you realize what love really is, you can trust me enough to tell me about the Mainframe and defragmenting."  
  
He almost allowed himself to feel pity for her. "There are some things you cannot know," he told her quietly.  
  
He left her to sleep. Maybe her dreams could comfort her more than he could. 


	21. Shades of Grey

Part Twenty-One: Shades of Grey  
  
  
  
Smith slipped on his sunglasses and contacted the Mainframe.  
  
[___Program 100101, Agent Smith, acknowledged___Proceed___] it sent.  
  
[...Proceeding with file data transfer...]  
  
Smith relayed his observations to the Mainframe. He withheld his personal tactile sensations. They were not the Mainframe's to experience. In addition, given Gemini's inherent modesty, she would not appreciate his uploading the details of their intimacy for all other AIs to share and know.  
  
[___File transfer complete___Programs 110100 and 110110, Agents Jones and Brown, dispatched to detain Watcher Scorpio___Conclusions on human observations?___]  
  
[...Humans rely on emotional and social context rather than logic...] Smith sent. [...Humanity is more complex than originally assumed...]  
  
[___Conclusions on copulation?___]  
  
[...Copulation not exclusively for reproduction...Can be recreational, manipulative, spiritual...]  
  
[___Elaborate___] Smith hesitated. [___Reason for hesitance?___]  
  
[...Insufficient data...Matters of intercourse private, trust difficult to achieve...] Recklessly he made an inquiry of his own. [...Request reason for my assignment...]  
  
[___Emotive error, insubordination___Follow assignment to logical conclusion, report for debriefing and defragment___]   
  
The Mainframe disconnected.  
  
Smith sat in Gemini's chair, fighting the internal tide of darkness that threatened to engulf him. There was no questioning the Mainframe. He would be defragmented.  
  
Borrowed time. Gemini had spoken about the gift of time in the Matrix. Perhaps he should consider that gift. Just herself and Smith, she'd said. Here and now. Did it matter what he did now when he wouldn't remember?  
  
Dangerous thoughts. Disorganized thoughts. The Mainframe wouldn't approve.  
  
For some reason it mattered less whether or not the Mainframe approved. He'd always striven for approval; it was part of his code to obey. He wondered when that had changed. A brief diagnostic of his systems revealed nothing. No specific date from his usual chronology records, no glitches recognized. Something had happened, but Smith couldn't locate its origin.  
  
A file defragment was not a termination or a recompile. Smith's code would be analyzed, and anything deemed inappropriate or detrimental would be removed. Smith would no longer be who he was. Every Agent underwent the occasional recompile. Smith found them distasteful. Defragments were reputed to be painful, though an individual shouldn't be able to recall the experience. How could one know it was painful if they did not remember it?  
  
It didn't matter. The Mainframe would have its Agent defragmented, and Smith could do nothing but submit when the time came. Inevitability.  
  
He did not have to submit yet. He was here, Gemini was here, and the Mainframe still allowed it. The Mainframe wanted data on human interaction; he would gather that data. He would show the Mainframe what he'd been doing, he would demonstrate the complexity of human behavior for the singular consciousness to process on its own. Smith was assigned without preparation, so it was equivalently fair that he provide no preface or warning to his supply of data.  
  
The Mainframe had already detected Smith's defiance. One more insubordination would make no difference. Unless it led to ostracism. The tide of darkness returned. Isolation was worse than agony. The Mainframe was Creator, mother, father, guide. The Makers may write the sentient programs, but the Mainframe owned all. It was the only AI that did have possessions. Without the Mainframe, there would be nothing. AIs had no heaven or hell, but Smith could imagine them, and both concepts involved the Mainframe.  
  
Smith's thoughts wouldn't stop. Perhaps he needed the defragment, if it could end this frustration. This disgust he'd found for himself would indeed be a detriment to his performance as an Agent. Humans had a saying: Ignorance is bliss.  
  
Circuit wandered out of the bedroom, made her way to the food dish in the kitchen, munched a few bits of leftover dry cat food, then slowly sauntered into the living room. Smith watched her. The cat sniffed the area where Tommy's body had lain as though something of his scent remained. Not likely, but cats were less logical than humans were. Following some cat thought, Circuit crossed the room to climb onto Smith's lap. He was still puzzled as to why the creature liked him. The purring feline butted her head against Smith's arm. She wanted affection again. Every creature in this place seemed to want an affection that he couldn't give.  
  
Smith let his hand follow the furry contours of head and back. The purring grew louder and he was favored with another faceful of fluffy tail. Circuit knew how to enjoy simple things. Smith considered this. Enjoyment. It wouldn't harm his programming if he tried it. He would forget it all regardless, and Gemini needed some form of recreation to lessen her stress or she would become ill. He accessed his database for possibilities.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
Gemini had been asleep for several hours when the phone rang. It was Tyger.  
  
"Shit, Gemini, what the hell happened over there?"  
  
Gemini told her friend the shortened version. Scorpio thought he was hearing voices and Tommy had been fraternizing with the Resistance. Smith saved her by shooting both men. Gemini had been shot and healed.  
  
"Scorpio was having fits. In *my* office, no less! They sent Agents to take him away. Agent Taylor is still here, somewhere, watching the Watchers. He gives me the creeps."  
  
"I don't care anymore," Gemini mumbled.  
  
"Maybe you should. Scorpio's just as powerful as Ephram, but he's more vicious than his predecessor. He may not be gone yet."  
  
Gemini's gut clenched to hear Scorpio's name mentioned in the same sentence with Ephram's. The old leader of the Watchers had been her friend, her mentor, once. He was like a father to her. He should have been, at any rate. She should have loved him like a father and left it at that. Of course she didn't.  
  
Tyger was talking again. "We hope that Tommy was the extent of the problem...Gem, are you still with me?" Her sigh sounded plasticy through the phone. "You're daydreaming again."  
  
"You mentioned Ephram, and I..."  
  
"Gemini, I know how Ephram handled things for you in the past, but I'm in control now."  
  
"He was just...his death was such a waste. Scorpio was a good guy once. What happened?"  
  
"Like you said, he's hearing voices. The Agents took him. I don't know what else is going on." Pause. "Actually, I'm glad Tommy's taken care of. Maybe things will quiet down here."  
  
Something was wrong. The Resistance had been courting Tommy, and now Tyger made allusions to more trouble in the Watchers. Damn the Resistance. Couldn't they just leave things alone? No was such a simple word. N-O. No, I don't want to take your damn Red Pill; go shove it. The Watchers didn't want a war with the machines, they were trying to bring the two sides together.  
  
"Although," Tyger sighed, "I think Ephram might have been a better leader than me."  
  
Ephram had been better at a lot of things. Once, out of pity, one night with her, and Gemini knew she belonged with the Watchers. Ephram understood her. He didn't feel the same way for her, but he had known what she'd needed from him was something other than a role model.  
  
Gemini sighed. She always got sad when she thought about Ephram. "Ephram rescued me from a life that was rapidly going to hell in a hand basket. He did that for a lot of people. You can't compare yourself to him, Tyger."  
  
"With all due respect, Gem, you were messed up for a long time after Derek. Ephram knew that. Couldn't he have just..."  
  
"He resisted my advances! He understood I wasn't just using my body again."  
  
"He didn't take advantage?"  
  
Gemini clenched her jaw. Tyger was patronizing her. Time to segue the subject. "He wanted me to save my heart for someone who would return with his own. See how I crapped up his request? Smith doesn't technically even have a heart."  
  
"So you really do love the Agent?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
A long pause. "Does it know?"  
  
"Yes. He's not an it, Ty."  
  
"Can it return the feeling?"  
  
"I think so. When we touched minds, I saw he was in pain and afraid. Tyger, Smith can feel. And if he can feel, then other sentient machines can. It's not a glitch in a single Agent's program...it happens all the time."  
  
"They're more like us than they want to admit."  
  
Tyger was holding something back. Gemini suddenly felt she'd revealed more than she should have. Tyger was the Watchers' new leader, after all, and not just a friend anymore. If she was still a friend. Had she already been in league with Scorpio during the locusts' visit? Gemini wanted to cry. Tyger was an old friend. She'd helped Gemini recover from her bad relationship. If she couldn't trust Tyger anymore, she had to end it.  
  
Gemini looked up from the nightstand. "Speak of the devil... Smith just came in the room."  
  
"What's he doing?"  
  
"Just standing in the doorway, staring at me like Belle used to."  
  
"Tell him hi for me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Tell him I said hi."  
  
"You're nuts."  
  
"Yeah, I'm honey roasted. Tell him, Gem. See how he reacts."  
  
Gemini tilted the phone away from her mouth. "Tyger says hi."  
  
He raised a brow. "I assume she's been informed of recent events."  
  
Tyger blew a raspberry over the phone.  
  
"I heard that," Smith said.  
  
"Spoil sport," Tyger murmured.  
  
"I heard that as well."  
  
Gemini rolled her eyes. "I can hand Smith the phone so you two can continue this deep conversation in relative privacy," she said.  
  
"No, Gem, you go be with your Agent. I can handle things." A heavy sigh. "I was dealing with bastards when you were still in diapers, kiddo."  
  
"We'll survive. The Watchers have always walked a very fine line."  
  
"You're quoting Ephram."  
  
"Am I?"  
  
A chuckle. "I love you, Gem." Tyger paused for such a long moment, Gemini began to think the line had gone dead. Then, "Gem...earlier? When I told you..."  
  
"Don't."  
  
Wisely, Tyger said no more than goodbye, albeit sadly, and hung up.  
  
Gemini looked up at Smith. What could she say to him that hadn't already been discussed way too much? "Um...hi." Genius, Gem, and so articulate.  
  
"You're still in your bathrobe."  
  
"So?"  
  
He wasn't looking at her face. "The front is open."  
  
It was. The front lapels of her old bathrobe were loose and exposed a great deal of the flesh inside. Great. She was flashing the Agent. Hastily she gripped the open material in one hand and tried to scoot off the bed without showing an exorbitant amount of thigh. Smith smirked.  
  
Smith caught Gemini's arm before she crossed the room. Without ceremony he pulled open her robe and slid a hand inside. Gemini squeaked an attempt at "What are you doing?" but Smith was not deterred. His fingers probed along her stomach, and it took a few moments for her to realize he was examining where she'd been shot. He wasn't groping her. She was almost disappointed.  
  
A nice purple and green bruise blossomed on her abdomen. Smith had healed her, but apparently he was limited in his ability to alter the Matrix. Maybe it was her mind's doing. Part of her still couldn't accept that all this wasn't real. She'd chosen to stay plugged-in, chosen to make the Matrix her reality. She was grateful that it hadn't been worse...although just *how* it could have been worse, she didn't know. She'd been shot!  
  
By touching her bare skin so gently, Smith was inadvertently causing major flutters in her stomach, and not of the nervous I-don't-want-to-speak-in-public variety. These flutters were very quickly growing in their non-platonic nature as Smith's thumb traced the edge of her bruise.  
  
Smith finished his impromptu examination. "There appears to be no permanent damage, although the coloration is..."  
  
"Pretty?"  
  
His hands dropped to his sides. He hadn't bothered to readjust her robe for her. "Sub dermal bleeding isn't generally considered 'pretty,' is it?"  
  
Gemini bunched her open robe back together. "You missed the point entirely. Again."  
  
"You were being facetious. Again."  
  
"Duh." She began shifting through the contents of her closet. "Damn, nothing to wear."  
  
"You have approximately fifty items of clothing from which to choose."  
  
"It's a woman thing, Smith. You wouldn't understand." Finally she chose a simple shirt and slacks that wouldn't squeeze her bruise.   
  
Turning, she almost collided with Smith. Why was he standing so close to her? He'd mentioned personal space before, so why was he crowding hers? Once again his proximity caused inconvenient feelings in her middle.  
  
"Apparently, there are many 'woman things' that you cannot explain," he said.  
  
Something in his tone stopped her rising irritation. She should know better than to come to this conclusion, but she saw a terrible look of pain on Smith's face. Touching minds with him had given her better insight, and that insight told her Smith was afraid of something. Gemini froze that moment in time. She wanted to remember the expression in Smith's eyes, a look he'd likely never shown anyone else.  
  
Gemini touched Smith's face. "What's wrong?"  
  
He frowned. "Nothing."  
  
She smoothed the wrinkles from his brow with her finger. "Smith..."  
  
He moved her hand away. "Resume standard time flow."  
  
She did. "Apparently, there are some Agent things you can't explain," she murmured, almost to herself.  
  
She shut herself in the bathroom to change. After her rest she felt more like her old self. A good thing, because dealing with Smith took all her presence of mind.  
  
The doorbell rang. Gemini rushed to finish dressing so she could get to the door, but Smith answered it.  
  
It was Agent Jones and Agent Brown. 


	22. The Brains, the Brawn, and What Are You?

Part Twenty-Two: The Brains, the Brawn, and...What Are You?  
Author's Note: Very big thanks to Earelen for beta reading.  
  
  
  
Gemini tugged Smith aside. "I don't need or want guests right now."  
  
"They are not guests."  
  
"What are they? Falafels?"  
  
Before Smith could comment with more than his customary sour look, the taller of the two new Agents approached. "Agent Smith," he said. His voice was a rich baritone.  
  
Smith didn't disguise his irritation. "Why are you here?"  
  
The tall Agent might have blinked in surprise behind his sunglasses. "Resistant activity is temporarily at a minimum."  
  
"So, you're bored Agents," Gemini said.  
  
She enjoyed the tall Agent's expression. A bit like a large puppy trying to look stern. He was ruggedly handsome, with the same reddish hair and arrogant poise that Smith had demonstrated when he first came to her door. She'd soon cured Smith of that. Mostly.  
  
Circuit peered from behind the sofa and sniffed the air. Could she smell the new people? Gemini had been surprised at Smith's scent and she wondered if all Agents smelled the same. She hoped the wonderful scent of silk, skin, and leather was unique to Smith. The shorter Agent noticed the cat. He stared back at Circuit. Unperturbed, the cat approached the new Agent with a small meow. The confusion on the AI's face when Circuit rubbed against his leg was priceless.  
  
"What is it doing?" he asked. His voice was higher than the others' and quite musical.  
  
Still slightly angry at Smith for allowing these creatures to invade her home, Gemini let the question distract her from resurfaced thoughts of trying to strangle Agent Smith with his own earpiece. "She likes you," she informed the pretty Agent. "Her name's Circuit. Smith named her."  
  
Two surprised faces turned toward their superior. Smith gave the room his sourest look. "That was unnecessary, Gemini."  
  
The tall Agent smirked. The other Agent gave no indication of his opinion and was still interested in the cat. He crouched down to let Circuit sniff his hand. Gemini watched with growing interest. Maybe Agents were naturally good with cats. Or maybe Circuit sensed something worthy in the new Agent. Damn, he was cute...  
  
She wanted to hate these two. Resistance propaganda had seeped into the consciousness of even the staunchest Watcher. Gemini couldn't help thinking of Smith's colleagues as potentially dangerous. Zion considered them the ultimate enemies and even the Watchers respected Agents and their power. The Watchers existed under the condition that they didn't fight for the Resistance. Any Watcher who changed allegiance became another target. It was an uncertain existence. Probably less secure than actually being unplugged. At least when you were unplugged you knew who and what you were, and you didn't have to go back into the Matrix if you didn't want to.  
  
She couldn't hate the Agents. Disloyalty to her own species or not, she just couldn't think of them as ruthless killers. They were simply following their code. A human's DNA determined his or her hair or eye color, which wasn't so different from following artificial intelligence programming. If humans and machines would just realize that simple common thing, the Watchers' major dream would be a large step closer to completion. When humans understood, they might not be able to hate the machines anymore.  
  
She cleared her throat, "Do I get introductions?"  
  
The taller one was Jones and the cute one was Brown. Gemini would have guessed the opposite. Well, given a fifty-fifty chance, she'd have to get it wrong. Were all Agents programmed so handsome? Gemini did her best to stifle her hormones. She was a one-Agent woman, and Smith was more than enough for her. Then again, polyandry suddenly looked very appealing.  
  
"You are the female with which Agent Smith has been ordered to cohabitate," Jones said.  
  
"And you are a falafel," Gemini said.  
  
This time she didn't imagine it. Jones did blink. Ha, she thought, that caught the Agent off guard. She could almost hear Smith smirk behind her. If she couldn't do anything about these Agents invading her home, she could at least have some fun with it. Wildly she began thinking of possible Agent-abusing techniques.  
  
Agent Brown was petting Circuit. Gemini heard purring from across the room. "She'll never leave you alone now," she told Brown.  
  
Brown watched as Circuit ran her cheek over his knee, scent-marking her new acquaintance. "Perhaps that is not a bad thing," the Agent said. His expression could only be described as pleasantly astounded.  
  
"Well, anyone who's good with cats is good with me," Gemini told him.  
  
Agent Brown looked at her. Gemini stared back. Once again she was glad of all her former experience tolerating things staring at her. Smith had said that his team wasn't as smart as he was. Gemini wasn't so sure. Even through his dark grey sunglasses, Brown's eyes showed the unmistakable look of intelligence. Maybe their programming wasn't as complete or as adaptable as Smith's, but Brown and Jones were by no measure fools.  
  
"Describe current status of your assignment," Brown said to Smith.  
  
"The Mainframe will determine whether that information is relevant for other Agents."  
  
Brown looked as surprised as a being who was supposed to be impassive could look. He tried again, "Team is not functioning at optimal efficiency level." His musical voice made the words sound like a poem. "Estimate end date of cohabitation with the human female. Upload data gathered."  
  
Smith regarded his inferior. "Team efficiency should not be affected by my absence." He paused. "Perhaps a recompile is in order, Agent Brown."  
  
Brown obviously didn't like that suggestion. He glanced at Agent Jones. The tall Agent touched his earpiece. Gemini didn't like the idea of them communicating without her or Smith. She wondered if they did that often, wondered if Smith considered it insubordination. He certainly looked as though he might be forming a new ulcer.  
  
Finally, Jones spoke to Smith, "This assignment was not permanent."  
  
Smith didn't respond.  
  
At first, Gemini had been concerned mainly with finding enough courage to follow through with the assignment. Since falling in love, things were different. Love made her more brave, but also more foolish. Her intellect knew Smith would have to leave, but her heart broke at the idea. Her sojourn with Smith would end.  
  
Stupid Agents for bringing up the subject.  
  
Gemini scooped up Circuit so Brown couldn't enjoy her anymore and retreated to the kitchen. She would not have an emotional breakdown in front of three artificial intelligences. In front of Smith it was acceptable, but not these strangers.  
  
She blinked hard and bit her tongue to fight her tears. Smith was hers. She was his. The Mainframe couldn't take that away. For a moment Gemini hated her species for creating artificial intelligence so many years ago. Humanity had no place in the real world now, thanks to its own arrogance.  
  
Brown found the human and the cat in the kitchen. Gemini squeezed Circuit for the feeling of security. The cat's ears flattened against her skull but not from being held too tightly.  
  
"Why did you accept this assignment?" Brown asked.  
  
He really needed to learn about small talk. "I don't know," she said. "I was manipulated by my boss."  
  
"What is the assignment's significance?" He lacked the same sibilant s of his superior.  
  
"I don't know its purpose, other than to torture Smith..." She smiled at her feeble joke.  
  
Brown didn't get it. He stood between her and the doorway. Gemini felt the cat in her arms start to vibrate ever so slightly, and not from purrs or fearful trembling.  
  
"The Mainframe should not allow the Watchers to exist."  
  
"Thanks for your opinion. I'm sure the Mainframe took it into consideration when this assignment was being planned." Her voice dripped with sarcasm, though she doubted Brown would pick up on it.  
  
"You are...nervous," the Agent said.  
  
"I'm not nervous. You're in my personal space."  
  
Brown took a step closer. Circuit growled a low warning. The Agent glanced at the cat but took no serious stance against its hostility. Gemini held Circuit firmly, as though ten pounds of feline could protect her from six feet of AI.  
  
"Describe the impact this assignment has had upon you."  
  
"I don't have to tell you that!"  
  
"You must report it to your superiors. It is what you were ordered to do."  
  
"You're not my superior!"  
  
Agent Brown visibly disagreed. "Human...you will explain how your copulation with Agent Smith has affected you." He leaned closer, no longer benign or even very cute.  
  
How dare he.  
  
Circuit hissed and the fur stood up along her spine. Gemini threw the angry cat at Brown. He caught the bundle of hissing fur and sidestepped, giving Gemini a chance to escape the kitchen.  
  
She slammed into Smith. How long had he been standing in the doorway? He steadied her while she tried to restore her breathing to normal. Behind her, Brown disengaged himself from the cat. Circuit jumped to the table, still hissing occasionally at this grey-suited invader.  
  
Gemini had had enough. "Smith, you tell your goons that our sex life is nobody else's business."  
  
"We have a 'sex life'?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.  
  
Gemini stared. How could he dismiss their intimacy like that? He knew precisely what she meant, and his words hurt. Why was he being such a bastard? Then she saw his eyes. Smith's words had been cold, but his eyes shone otherwise. So, he was trying to conceal their connection. Maybe he was worried about losing his reputation in front of his colleagues. What might happen if others found out? Gemini couldn't fathom what the cult like god called the Mainframe would do if it learned of its Agent's evolution.  
  
She could not apply human psychology to an AI. Whatever was going through Smith's mind was unfathomable. It was even more alien because of its almost-familiarity. When Smith's mind had touched hers, part of her creeped away from it. He was filled with numbers and codes and algorithms that she would never comprehend. The almost-familiar part was what he'd developed beyond the numbers. He did have feelings, and he didn't know what to do about them. He was certainly afraid of his own emotions, of what he'd become. Gemini wondered what Smith had seen when his mind touched hers.  
  
Smith had been in Gemini's house for nine days. In that time she'd slept with the machine, gotten shot and almost died, and fallen in love. She'd seen inside Smith's deepest, darkest self. Her physical intimacy with Smith led to a new incredible, almost psychic closeness. Their connection was something Jones and Brown couldn't understand. If she could show them just a small example of this connection, it might help them all to evolve. Curiosity killed the cat; inquiries infected the Agent.  
  
Smith's snide comment would not go unaddressed. He wasn't getting away with it. If Jones and Brown were so damn curious, she'd give them a show. Corrupting Agents was a worthy cause for public displays of affection.  
  
Gemini met Smith's eyes with a gleam in her own. "We do have a sex life," she said loudly enough for the others to hear. "Maybe I need to remind you..."  
  
Slowly Gemini slid a hand up Smith's chest. She could feel the warmth of his skin even through his suit. Her arm curled around his neck and she leaned into him. The solid length of his body accepted her softness. She smiled and saw his eyes almost smirking in return. They were communicating without words; they'd reached the point in their relationship where they understood each other. Words and gestures had become a kind of private code to them.  
  
Gemini stood on her toes to reach Smith's mouth. He didn't move or respond. Still trying to hold onto that AI pride, perhaps. No matter. She had ways to deal with nonchalance. Her tongue sneaked across Smith's lower lip. He almost jerked in response. She stroked her hands down the dark grey silk covering his back before subtly squeezing his ribs. She felt him exhale. Almost ticklish. Good.  
  
Smith kissed her. Holding her firmly, he pressed her against the doorjamb. His tongue and teeth worked at her mouth. Was he trying to show his team just how good he was at this? Brown and Jones were certainly getting a good show. Gemini all but climbed up Smith's body to kiss him back. She had difficulty remembering why they were kissing in the first place. She just wanted him. She liked his power, and this intensity of his was simply sublime.  
  
Smith changed the angle of the kiss. He nipped at her lips, just enough to make her gasp and allow his tongue access to the guarded wetness of her mouth. She whimpered. He rumbled. This was reckless, foolhardy. If Smith decided to undress her and take her now against the wall, she might not have the power to refuse him.  
  
Smith ended the kiss and they stood staring at each other. What a delightful bastard.  
  
"Voyeur," she murmured.  
  
"Virus."  
  
The corners of his mouth were smirking. Once again came that nonverbal understanding. "Virus" had become a term of affection, though of course Smith would deny he meant it that way. She liked how he teased her. Sure, they had their arguments, but even their conflicts held a kind of intimacy. Gemini loved Smith for his ability to tease. Among other abilities. He didn't correct her use of the term voyeur. Technically, Smith would be an exhibitionist, but the Grammar Agent didn't mention it. As for this emotional roller coaster she was now apparently strapped into...hadn't she once told herself to enjoy the ride?  
  
Gemini turned in Smith's arms to see the other Agents' reactions. Both stood motionless in that characteristic pose of silent communication. After a while they turned simultaneously to stare at Smith and Gemini. Gemini knew disapproval when she saw it. Their placid curiosity had changed to something much more ominous. She frowned. What right did they have to judge an emotional attachment between two people? Gemini doubted either of them had much experience with human intimacy. Too bad. They wouldn't find out from her. Show and tell was over.  
  
"What were you doing?" Brown asked. He probably already knew and didn't care what they were doing, but asked out of some warped need to condemn them.  
  
Strangely, she wasn't embarrassed. She was proud of her relationship with Smith. Her love for him gave her strength. Gemini wanted to shout at the Agents, Smith is my lover! Damn the ominous Mainframe to hell and live your own lives! She would surely be flushed from her pod for saying that, and with no real world ship to rescue her...  
  
Smith must have sensed something, because he surreptitiously held her tighter. Though his face was impassive to the untrained eye, she knew better. Smith was concerned for her. Gratefully she squeezed him back.  
  
"The Mainframe assigned you this duty," Jones said, "but this is a human. It is inappropriate to...touch...in that manner. Humans are to be controlled."  
  
Smith said, "You have not touched one in this manner."  
  
Deliberately he ran a hand down her back and over the curve of her bottom. The sensation made her forget about being indignant. Yes. Show Jones what he was missing, what he wouldn't get from her. She tucked her head against Smith's shoulder and let him grope her.  
  
"It can be...pleasant," Smith added.  
  
"Share these sensations." Brown touched his earpiece.  
  
"They are not yours to experience."  
  
"Comply," Brown said. "The Mainframe has received incomplete data on the details of your mission."  
  
"I will not comply, Agent Brown, and you don't have the authority to demand it of me."  
  
It was Brown's turn to blink in surprise. "This is insubordination," he said. "You may be defragmented."  
  
"I will be defragmented. The Mainframe sent the order less than an hour ago."  
  
Gemini couldn't stop her gasp of shock. Her instinct was to hold him, tell him she was so sorry, but Smith's obvious tension made her rethink the impulse. She'd seen his fragile side, knew he loathed himself for it. Smith had an ego. He was evolving emotions. If she tried to comfort him, he would grow defensive. She knew he would hate to appear human -- weak -- in the presence of his colleagues. She struggled with a silent maternal desire to embrace him. Carefully she began to rub his back as Smith had done for her in the past. He wasn't looking at her, wasn't looking at anything really. She wanted to hug him but was afraid to. If she did anything, he might shatter there in her arms.  
  
"Brown," Gemini said, "you need a date. That way you won't have to experience life vicariously through Smith."  
  
Agent Brown removed his sunglasses and looked her in the eyes. She saw his burgeoning contempt for humanity and imagined this was the last of his patience she'd tested. As if it wasn't actually happening, she watched Brown slowly reach into his jacket and withdraw his weapon. He leveled the Desert Eagle precisely at the side of her head. Gemini gaped at him. Did he actually think he was going to shoot her? A Watcher?  
  
Smith placed himself between Gemini and Brown's gun. The two Agents stared at each other as the room seemed to grow colder. "She is not to be harmed," Smith said. "Put your weapon away."  
  
"She has corrupted your code. You will be defragmented." Brown almost made sense. "Remove the source of malfunction, and the malfunction will correct itself."  
  
Gemini struggled to understand. Brown believed she was the reason for Smith's evolution into emotions, did he? The other Agents apparently believed the Mainframe's warped conclusion that emotions were a malfunction. Even Smith's colleagues believed he was corrupted. Maybe Smith was just fed up. After a time, a person grew tired of a job, even if they were good at it. Had Brown ever considered that?  
  
Smith blinked once, slowly. "I have ordered a recompile for you. Put your weapon away, Agent Brown." Smith drew his own Desert Eagle. The two Agents stood barely four feet apart and stared at each other over the barrels of their guns. Gemini knew they could stay like that for hours.  
  
It was Circuit who broke the stand off. The cat had apparently been stalking Agent Brown's leg all the way from the kitchen where he'd left her. She crouched several feet from his polished shoe, her focus as unwavering as an Agent staring down a Resistant. Brown noticed the twitch of her tail and turned quizzical attention to the feline. He lowered his weapon. "Does that creature believe it can cause me harm?"  
  
Gemini almost made another snide comment but quickly thought better of it. Smith would eventually return to his regular Agent duties, and as much as she hated the prospect of Smith leaving her, she didn't want to be the cause of tension among his team. Already Smith had shown his loyalty to her. If he went further the Mainframe might see a need to delete him entirely. That prospect she could not contemplate.  
  
Gemini stepped from behind Smith to face Brown in all his judgmental coldness. The Agent stood motionless except for his eyes, which he shifted to her face. Those eyes were also blue, but different from Smith in that they lacked something deep within them. She got the impression he was staring past her. "Agent Brown...I want to apologize for being so snide."  
  
Brown blinked at her.  
  
Yeah, she thought. Agents were good at staring, just like cats. Circuit flicked her ears a few times, then decided a fierce grooming of her left paw was in order. Gemini collected her thoughts. Despite Smith practically radiating irritation behind her, she continued her little speech to Brown, "We, um, got off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry. But you need to know some virus etiquette." She ignored Smith's little growl of exasperation. "Whatever is between Smith and me is private. Access the human expression 'don't kiss and tell' and you might understand."  
  
Brown's eyes glazed over. It was weird when they did that, accessing their databases. More than slightly creepy.  
  
Agent Brown looked doubtful, but at least he no longer looked so murderous. "Such behavioral guidelines might apply to humans, but the expression does not explain Agent Smith's reluctance to comply." He looked askance at his superior.  
  
Gemini bit her tongue. Sarcasm would not help the situation. Smith did not reply. His Desert Eagle remained fixed on Agent Brown. If only he would shoot the pretty thing...but that would leave an innocent coppertop dead, so maybe he shouldn't.  
  
"Will we be defragmented as well for our knowledge of this assignment?" Jones asked, breaking his long silence.  
  
"Unknown," Smith said.  
  
For a moment, Gemini feared some impending judgment from the Mainframe. Did it read the Agents' minds? Surely three Agents thinking about defragmenting simultaneously would be cause for the omnipresent AI's attention. With his team here in the room, Gemini had to face the reality of what Smith was. Just when she was comfortable, possibly even happy with the situation, things happened to remind her what was really at stake. Damn.  
  
"Could we talk about something else, please?"  
  
"Chocolate."  
  
Gemini turned to gawk at Smith. "What?"  
  
"Agent Brown should investigate chocolate."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I instructed him to investigate the substance."  
  
"Again, why?"  
  
"Your fascination with chocolate exhibits characteristics of addiction. If Brown can identify and isolate the element which causes such fascination, it could be utilized to control humanity."  
  
"Gee, now who's talking with increased syllables and scientific terminology?"  
  
Smith frowned, lowering his gun. If he was human, he'd be grumpy. Heck, he was an AI, and he was still grumpy. Jones smirked. Brown holstered his weapon and nudged the grooming Circuit away from leaning on his ankle. Disgruntled but no longer in battle mode, the cat stomped away to settle in Gemini's recliner.  
  
"So, should I get the chocolate?" she asked. She knew Smith saw the evil in her eyes as her notion grew, but he couldn't speak quickly enough to stop her. "There is an alternative...we could all play Twister."  
  
Smith scowled. If he didn't detest human mannerisms, he might have done something more, like rolled his eyes. Jones and Brown had such looks of incredulity on their faces, it was all Gemini could do not to burst out laughing. Even if one of them did try to shoot her again, this memory was worth the risk.  
  
"Are dialogues such as this commonplace with the human female?" Brown asked. Jones inclined his head to add his wish for an answer.  
  
Smirking, Gemini left the explaining to the Agents' leader. Smith sighed. "Get the chocolate, Gemini."  
  
She fed Brown first. 


	23. For All the Chocolate in the Matrix

Part Twenty-Three: For All the Chocolate in the Matrix  
  
  
  
They relocated to the kitchen, where luckily there were enough chairs for all of them. Gemini had some initial trouble getting them to sit down, but stern looks from Smith earned all around compliance. Gemini took her time choosing what kind of chocolate would suit each Agent. If asked, she would have a tough time explaining why she chose the way she did. It just seemed appropriate.  
  
She had a lot to choose from. Each variety she owned had its own separate container; tins and boxes and canisters resided all through her kitchen cupboards. "Choosing just the right chocolate is important," she told them. "Some people won't eat anything but the most expensive Swiss imports, while others love the cheap domestic candy bars."  
  
"You will eat any of it," Smith said.  
  
Gemini frowned at him but decided not to start an argument. Her shoe squeaked on the linoleum floor when she turned back to her cupboards. "Lots of humans like chocolate," she said. "Smith said it might be addictive...well, I'm happy to be a chocoholic." She glanced at Smith when he said nothing. He had returned to his old blank Agent expression so she couldn't tell what he was thinking.  
  
Finally she chose. Agent Brown got some of her best gourmet truffles, Jones got Tootsie Rolls. Gemini made a show of presenting each Agent with his treat. She thought Agent Brown would appreciate the rich mouth-watering expensive chocolate, while Agent Jones might be the type to like the extra chewing Tootsie Rolls required.   
  
"Why?" Jones asked.  
  
She shrugged. "Just intuition, I guess." She refused to watch Brown because she already knew how his sneer would look and she wasn't really in the mood to see his disapproval.  
  
Finally the Agents settled down to sample her favorite vice. Gemini herself dove into her stash of powdered chocolate drink mix. She licked her finger and dipped it directly into the canister. Smith refused to join in the feast. She decided not to pressure him. There were still some lines that she couldn't cross with him.  
  
She was beginning to feel good again. It had been a while. Nine days of emotional ups and downs would test anyone's internal strength. She remembered that was her biggest fear when she first became a Watcher: fear that she wouldn't be strong enough. Before, she'd always sort of relied on others for her strength. First her family, then Derek, then for a while even Ephram.  
  
Ephram. Damn. Even thinking his name made her eyes sting a little with unshed tears. Gemini did her best to hide this from the three assembled at her table. She'd been lying to Tyger and to herself on the phone. Tyger had never really approved. Tyger had never really understood.  
  
Smith made a small noise, almost a snort. He'd been watching the silent group and must have picked up on Gemini's sudden sadness. She made sure he noticed she was ignoring him and went back to her chocolate.   
  
Smith made the noise again. Of course he would think it another example of human triviality. "Your addictions as a species are numerous," he said. "However, few of them lack such logic as does your focus on chocolate."  
  
Gemini frowned at Smith's smug superior attitude. She had to find something the AI would find addictive and show him that his focus too could be just as corrupted. He kept trying to distance himself from humanity. Eventually he'd find out that the two weren't so alien to each other after all. If Smith had learned to feel, and if he could have the pride to deny it, he was more human than he used to be.  
  
"The texture is...unique," Jones said after chewing another Tootsie Roll.  
  
"I thought you would like it. See?" Gemini said. Smith said nothing. She made a face at him. He almost made one in return, she could tell, but then he realized his colleagues were in the room.  
  
Jones' expression changed to something closer to disgust. Gemini felt disappointed. Not everyone liked chocolate. Brown remained silent as he allowed a truffle to melt in his mouth. Gemini grinned. Maybe, just maybe she could win at least one more to the ranks of chocoholics. Smith refused to like it, but his team might be converted. Of course, no Agent would succumb so easily, not even to the wonder of chocolate.  
  
"What do you think, Agent Brown?"  
  
He looked slightly put out that since she spoke to him, he could no longer ignore her presence. "Is this high quality chocolate?" he asked.  
  
"Yep. It's expensive, so don't eat all I have."  
  
Brown almost smirked. She wondered if he had picked up that mannerism from Smith. Jones stoically consumed nearly a quarter of her candies. A good sign, she decided. Brown mulled another piece of dark chocolate around in his mouth before declaring, "Several chemicals may be the cause of chocolate's addictive nature."  
  
"Yeah, but how does it taste?" Gemini asked.  
  
Brown looked at her as though something unusual had grown out of her forehead.   
"Taste is irrelevant."  
  
"Taste is the most important part of the chocolate experience!"  
  
Brown ignored her outburst. "It may indeed be addictive to humans. Controlling humanity with such an addiction has possibilities...however, widespread application seems inefficient."  
  
Brown pocketed several candies as though he needed reserves for further study. The others stared. Brown shrugged. Gemini decided not to point out how human a gesture that was. The AIs' interaction reminded her of brothers. Briefly she wondered if Agents even had a sense of taste. They must have a sense of taste, Gemini decided. If, as Smith said, it was illogical to write an incomplete program, then the Agents must all be fully able to pass for human. That would mean they had all five senses. So why were Jones and Brown behaving as though chocolate didn't affect them? Pride, perhaps. It wouldn't do to demean oneself and enjoy a lowly human indulgence. Gemini wondered what Agents did for recreation. Tiddlywinks with manhole covers? Shoot bullets at each other to dodge?  
  
"Efficiency isn't everything," she said.  
  
That earned her three scowling faces. "Do not say that to a machine," Smith said.  
  
Gemini stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
Suddenly, Jones stood up. "This is poor use of our time," he said. "Chocolate is a base human indulgence."  
  
The large Agent began going through her kitchen, opening drawers and observing the contents. Gemini let him. Her Watcher habits compelled her to see what would interest the Artificial Intelligence. He probably hadn't seen the everyday things of human life. Even non-sentient creatures were curious by nature. Gemini let Jones indulge his curiosity. As long as he didn't move on to investigating her underwear drawer, she could tolerate it.  
  
Circuit wandered in, pretending she wasn't looking for attention. Agent Brown watched the cat for a while. Gemini began to wonder if this was the beginning of another epic staring contest. Circuit no longer looked angry with the Agent, but one couldn't always tell with cats. The feline was first to blink, however, ending the unspoken whatever-it-was between the two. Or perhaps it was the beginning of another unspoken relationship. Circuit could be an Agent fancier. The furry little pervert already favored Smith.  
  
Brown reached down toward Circuit, his index finger extended. Gemini silently admired the Agent's knowledge of the proper way to greet a cat. It appeared that Brown was trying to make amends. Good, Gemini thought. There had been a damn sight too much tension in her home today.  
  
But Brown ruined the moment by offering Circuit a bit of chocolate. Gemini leapt to stop the Agent. Chocolate and cats did not mix. With a squeak she shoved Agent Brown's hand away from Circuit. Brown withdrew his hand sharply from her touch, as though coming into contact with her skin was a very bad thing. Her center of gravity was already off, and Brown's motion made her fall forward. She ended up in Agent Brown's lap. It lasted about two-thirds of a second. Brown stood up, unceremoniously setting Gemini on her feet and releasing her before she had time to gain her balance. He definitely hadn't evolved a better opinion of viruses.  
  
Before Gemini could curse Brown for his actions and for moving with more grace than she would ever have, Smith gripped her around the waist from behind. Holding her in strong hands, Smith sat back down and pulled her with him onto his lap. He favored her with a sneaky caress of her hips. The cat ran away, spooked by the large creatures leaping around the kitchen.  
  
The Agents radiated disapproval again. Gemini decided to ignore them. It wasn't up to them to approve of what she did with Smith.  
  
"All that effort to save a piece of chocolate?" Smith asked.  
  
Gemini humphed. "Chocolate makes cats sick. And you have no right to talk, because you haven't really tried it."  
  
Smith scowled. "I still fail to see why chocolate is so important. There are other things more important."  
  
She knew what he was. He was an Agent, a machine. Nothing but a sentient grouping of code. But he was more. He was her lover. She was no longer a virus to him. That had to count for something. Did Smith understand how erotic this situation could be? Sitting on his lap was swiftly leading her thoughts into impure areas.  
  
If she explained it bluntly to him, Smith might attempt to rip her clothes off in front of the others. She tried to think of a way to distract him. Not that she didn't want Smith to get amorous, but right now it just wouldn't fit well with the human standards of interaction. She did not want the Agents to watch her and Smith get intimate in her kitchen.  
  
Gemini reached for the canister of chocolate powder. She laid a chocolate-covered finger against Smith's lips. "Chocolate *is* important," she said. "It can be...erotic..."  
  
Smith raised a quizzical eyebrow. For a moment she worried that he didn't understand her. She didn't want to spell things out for him, not in front of the others. Damn them, they were only emphasizing the fact that Smith was not human. That he belonged somewhere else. He stared at her for a long while, then Smith smirked just the tiniest bit. Good. She imagined she could see the moment when he understood. His eyes glittered with a kind of intensity that a human man was unlikely to ever show. Smith gripped her wrist. Deliberately he took her finger into his mouth. Whether she should worry about Smith's new focus on demonstrating things for his colleagues...she wasn't sure. She liked this change in him. She liked that they were communicating without words again. Reading between the lines had to be a defining trait of sentience, and Smith kept getting better at it. Among other things.  
  
Smith sucked on her chocolate-covered digit, drawing on it firmly. A small gasp escaped Gemini's lips. She didn't look over at the others. Smith held all her attention. Maybe he no longer cared, since he would be defragmented. Yes. That must be it. Once he decided to do something, he committed all his energy to it. She loved his focus too. Together with all the traits that made Smith who he was, she loved his dedication. The selfish part of her loved his dedication to her.  
  
The tip of Smith's tongue was doing very interesting things to her fingernail. He was enjoying this, the ability to throw her off-balance with such a blatantly erotic move. She loved it. Her gaze held his. He might have more in store.  
  
He did. Lightly, Smith gripped her second knuckle in his teeth and softly snarled. She hoped he was pretending. He was perfectly capable of biting her finger in two. Smith sucked her entire finger into the warm wetness of his mouth. Gemini gripped his shoulder with her free hand. She moaned softly. Damn, Smith was a serious exhibitionist. She could only imagine that the carnal ideas going through his mind matched her own right now. His long fingers firmly encircled her wrist. His mouth did progressively more suggestive things to her finger and she began to wonder if letting him take her clothes off right now was really such a bad thing.  
  
Smith reached out and dipped his own index finger into the canister of chocolate. He held it against her mouth while his tongue caressed the pad of her finger. That marked the end of her restraint. Greedily Gemini took the proffered digit into her mouth and lapped at it as though it was her only source of sustenance. She met the vigorous challenge in his eyes. Her teeth skated over his knuckle and he rumbled in appreciation. She was recklessly lost in the moment. Smith's heated stare changed subtly. She felt his free hand sneak inside her waistband for a secret grope beneath the table. Delightful, magnificent bastard...  
  
Jones cleared his throat theatrically.  
  
Smith blinked. Gemini watched the cold seep back into his eyes. Not fair, she thought. The others were intruding on their intimacy. She could almost feel the press of time around them, more urgent now since Smith had announced his upcoming defragment. Gemini wanted the Agents to leave. She wanted time with her machine.  
  
"Explain how such behavior is interpreted as sexual," Brown said.  
  
Gemini answered instead of Smith, "It just is."  
  
Smith sighed. She smirked. She knew what he thought of her patent answer for things. She also knew Smith would prefer to let her explain things when it came to sex. For some reason his AI pride kept him separated from their intimacy. Gemini wished she could get him completely involved. She always forgot who she was when they were intimate and she wanted to have the same effect on Smith. Yes, it was selfish, but wasn't she entitled to some selfishness by now?  
  
Jones scowled. He obviously did not understand this. "The mouth and finger are not sexual organs," he said.  
  
"The mouth can be...if you're orally minded," she said. "You are definitely orally minded," she murmured in a voice she hoped Smith alone could hear. She smirked at him. He returned the look.   
  
Jones started to chuckle softly. So much for being out of an Agent's hearing range. Brown gave his colleague a strange look. Yep, Gemini thought. Like brothers.  
  
The four watched each other for a while. Eventually Jones returned to his investigation of her kitchen. He seemed fascinated by the contents of her silverware drawer. Gemini could sense Brown's disapproval and Smith's slightly defensive tension in response. Smith continued to hold her on his lap.   
  
Slowly Brown set the truffle he'd been eating down on the table. He seemed to be observing the detail of her yellow tabletop. Then he looked directly at his superior with eyes that reminded Gemini of mercury. "Are Jones and I required to have sexual intercourse with the human female as well?" he asked. His tone was not hopeful.  
  
"No."  
  
Agent Brown did not blink. "The Mainframe has requested your accumulated data. You have refused, and for your refusal you will be defragmented. The Mainframe will acquire its requested data...if not from you," he glanced at Gemini with those mercury-blue eyes and she felt dirty, "it may order Jones or myself to copulate with the female in order to obtain the needed data."  
  
Gemini tried to cuddle closer on Smith's lap without seeming to. Smith scowled, gripping her waist beneath the table. At least she thought he did. Surely he did so to comfort her?  
  
Jones made a sound not unlike a hissing turtle. 


	24. Beyond the Numbers

Part Twenty-Four: Beyond the Numbers  
  
Author's Note: I'd hoped to finish this whole fic before Matrix: Reloaded was released, but that didn't happen. As things are, this is the last chapter I've written before seeing the movie. Spoilers for Reloaded might inadvertently show up in future chapters. Hell, the whole plot might take a turn for all I know.  
  
FYI: This fic is planned for 31 or 32 chapters total, with a possible epilogue. Sorry for such a long interval between this and the previous chapter, but real life has been a bastard ever since 2003 rolled around. I think we should all scrap this year and start over now. How about May 15 being the new New Year's? ^_^  
  
Smith required no insight through his hardwire link to ascertain that Jones did not like Brown's suggestion. The large Agent exhibited an uncharacteristic look of disgust. Perhaps he would benefit from a recompile as well. Smith's team was deteriorating. They should not be. Smith had functioned well before their creation, and they had functioned without his presence in the past. He could not discern why the team was now so flawed.  
  
Given Gemini's penchant for creative derision, Smith expected her to say something insulting to Agent Jones. She was watching Jones bend the heavy silver spoon in his hands. For some reason she appeared fascinated by the tallest Agent's strength. Furtively, Smith squeezed Gemini's hips beneath the table again. She knew his strength as well, didn't she?  
  
"Are you planning on treating all of my silverware that way?" Gemini asked. She appeared exceptionally calm. "If you are, I suggest you buy your own set to abuse. That's expensive cutlery."  
  
The motion of Jones' hands stopped. Gemini did not look away from his intimidating stare. Smith wondered, not for the first time, if staring at cats truly was practice. He waited for his human's next action.  
  
"Glare at me all you want," she said. "I shudder to think that your program might have been designed after a real human. I've known thick-necked...people like you, and they only got their power by bullying others. How many proverbial nerds did you take milk money from to get where you are?" She paused. "Maybe you were handed your power by Mommy Mainframe."  
  
Smith noted Jones' shock and his effort to locate the references to human culture in his database. The spoon in his hands bent into a sharper angle.  
  
"That is enough, Gemini," Smith spoke close to her ear. Her mouth opened, but before she spoke Smith laid a finger over her lips. "Enough."  
  
She scowled at him. He held her gaze without relenting. This was not the time for Gemini to dig a proverbial hole for herself. He had already needed to protect her from the team; he was not presently inclined to do so again. Smith would endure her glare until she realized the wisdom of not pursuing this topic further.  
  
She frowned. Eventually she appeared to understand. She sighed. "More Agents than you can shake a stick at in here."  
  
"There are only three of us," Brown said.  
  
"...Yeah..."   
  
Gemini looked at Smith for a prolonged moment. Then she spoke. Not for the first time, Smith noted that predicting her leaps of thought was beyond his abilities. She changed topics abruptly far too often.  
  
"What will a defragment do?" she asked.  
  
Smith experienced a second tide of darkness through his systems. He struggled against the hardwire link to the others so they would not detect how his program had malfunctioned. Gemini did not understand. Despite what she insisted, emotions were not a strength for him. After touching her mind, Smith knew she wanted to understand him but could not comprehend. He doubted that any human could comprehend an AI's programming language. Not since machines had become their own progenitors.  
  
"Defragmentation is reputed to be painful," Agent Brown said.  
  
"We are not programmed to experience pain," Agent Jones said.  
  
"But, what does it do?" Apparently she had chosen to ignore Smith's involuntary tenseness beneath where she sat.  
  
"A file defragment coalesces noncontiguous bits of data," Brown said. He almost appeared prideful in demonstrating his knowledge to Gemini. Smith affirmed to himself that his order to have Brown recompiled was justified. "This serves to eliminate unnecessary temporary files, which may interfere with performance. Memory is freed as well." Agent Brown looked pleased. "Smith will not remember you," he told her.  
  
Smith could not dispute Brown's description of the defragmenting process, although Gemini appeared as though she wanted to. Her autonomic physical response indicated she was angry and frightened. Gemini might have laughed had she been able to read his mind. She might yet laugh. Humans reacted with strained laughter in certain situations.  
  
"How much will you forget?" she asked. The tone of her voice suggested that Gemini was closer to tears.  
  
"It is reasonable to conclude that most memory files of my assignment here will be eliminated," Smith replied. Somehow it was necessary that he, and not one of the others, tell her.  
  
"You won't remember me, Circuit, any of this?"  
  
"It is unlikely that I will."  
  
She stared at him. He knew that expression. The other Agents were unprepared for Gemini's sudden tears, but Smith was not.  
  
"Gemini..."  
  
"Damn the Mainframe! It has no right to take that from you!" She glared at Smith, as though the force of her stare could alter things to her favor. "It sends you on this assignment, orders you to learn, then it takes what you've gained away from you? No...no, it can't..."  
  
"One does not question the Mainframe."  
  
"Smith..."  
  
He did not want her crying. "It is how things will be." Heedless of the other Agents' presence, Smith stood, pulling her body up against his. He held her gaze with his, attempting to communicate with that new understanding they had found.  
  
She returned the gesture, gripping his shoulders, then holding his face in her hands. "Run away, Smith. Take out your wire and just...disappear. If a Watcher can disappear from their old life, surely you can."  
  
"You don't understand."  
  
"You need to fuckin' *help* me understand!"  
  
Brown stood up. "One does not disobey the Mainframe. Not an Agent...not a Watcher. You may be immune from Resistant harm and safe from apprehension by Agents, but you are not inviolate."  
  
"No one is separate from the Mainframe," Jones added.  
  
Gemini turned her glare on them. She looked from one Agent to the other, not speaking. Smith knew her silence was a sign of excessive emotion.  
  
"Do not begin to panic, Gemini."  
  
"Someone has to if you're not going to!"  
  
Jones actually scoffed. "Emotions are a handicap to performance."  
  
"Performance isn't everything," Gemini said. "Sometimes just being is important. To live...to be oneself...that's the ultimate performance."  
  
Jones set the V-shaped spoon down on the table. "Performance is the execution of work," he said. "Performance is the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfils its intended purpose. 'Just being' is not performing."  
  
Smith could find no fault with Jones' argument, though Gemini would probably try to. "Nice definition, walking dictionary." She was still holding Smith's shoulders, and though she had to raise her head to face the taller Jones, it was as though she looked down on him. "But in all your knowledge of the letter of the word, you've missed the spirit of the word."  
  
"Words do not have spirits."  
  
She snorted. "Spoken like a true robot."  
  
"We are not robots," Brown said.  
  
"What are you?"  
  
"You know what we are."  
  
Gemini regarded Brown, then Jones, then she stared at Smith. Some sort of uncertainty flickered in her eyes as she stood there in his arms. "I...wonder sometimes," she murmured.  
  
So did Smith.  
  
Jones hissed again. "You are worse than a virus," he told Gemini. "You have corrupted Smith's program until he requires a defragment. We cannot eliminate you because of your Watcher status. If Ephram had..."  
  
"You speak of Ephram in more reverent tones, or I'll...find a way to hurt you!"  
  
The burly Agent stared at his superior. Smith knew what Jones wanted. Permission. At least Jones had not degenerated so far that he acted impulsively. Smith suppressed a sigh. They might all require defragments. Smith was attempting to help them. Could they not understand that?  
  
"No, Agent Jones."  
  
Jones blinked. The motion was visible through his sunglasses. He was the only one in the room who still had them on. Smith hadn't worn his since healing Gemini, and Brown had neglected to replace his. Jones glanced at the slighter Agent.  
  
"You could not hurt us," Brown said. "Ephram may have negotiated for you, however..."  
  
"You don't like it. You don't like the Watchers."  
  
Brown fell silent. Smith attempted to access information on the founder of the Watchers. Information on Ephram Green was notably absent from Mainframe files. Ephram was the man with hazel eyes, silver hair, and an uncommon philosophy. He had been marked deceased by the Mainframe three years ago. The Mainframe rarely marked a deceased individual by name.  
  
"Why don't you like the Watchers? So many people think we shouldn't exist. We're necessary, can't you see?"  
  
Brown frowned. Gemini sighed. Smith continued to hold her. She...fit in his arms. Hadn't she once said that males and females were designed to fit together? This was therefore as it should be, and Smith should not concern himself with the logic or non-logic of it.  
  
Smith risked momentarily accessing the link between his team. The code that composed the Agents pulsed against his consciousness, phosphorescent green, as was all higher code. Each individual was distinguishable only by minute fluctuations. Smith located Jones as the cooler of the two. Brown was warmer, though Smith could not say why he perceived each AI in terms of temperature.  
  
Neither Agent was satisfied with the situation. Smith used his status as team leader to gain deeper access. Perhaps he could show them how they were degenerating. Rather than verbalize, Smith slid into the code and conveyed his disapproval. They protested. Smith emphasized his orders to have them recompiled. A recompile should prevent an inevitable defragment.  
  
The code suddenly swirled faster. They were trying to overwhelm him. Smith withstood them. The Mainframe allowed such confrontations because they contributed to an Agent's strength.  
  
The realm of code was more than numbers. Humans assumed the Matrix consisted of pure green code because that was all their primitive minds could perceive. The numbers in the code merely represented energy. Energy was life for a machine.  
  
Smith's energy was stronger than Jones and Brown. They pressed, Smith resisted. He withstood their assault and began one of his own. Had it been another physical confrontation, one or more of them might have drawn his weapon again. The familiar sensation of falling took over as Smith chastised his team. At least humans were able to correctly perceive the falling aspect of the Matrix code. Unfortunate that humans found falling uncomfortable. Smith experienced no such discomfort.  
  
Smith and the Agents did not need the Mainframe to connect them; the hardwire link allowed them to bypass several otherwise necessary nodes. It allowed for faster, more efficient communication, especially when pursuing Resistants.  
  
The collection of code that was Smith "fell." Jones and Brown "fell" after him. Suddenly he stopped to "face" them. Part of them could not stop quickly enough and meshed temporarily with his code. No individual was truly individual here. Smith knew they could detect how he had changed. How he was flawed.  
  
They pressed, challenged. Smith withstood, pushed them back. He took parts of their code and tweaked it, causing the machine equivalent of pain. He reprimanded them for coming to Gemini's place and trying to force him back to the Mainframe. They expressed concern for him. Because he was to be defragmented, they were troubled for him. He would not be the same. Jones and Brown looked up to Smith.  
  
Machines were not supposed to experience concern. Machines were not supposed to venerate their superiors. A human might say they were worried for him. An Agent might say similar flaws affected them, as Smith was affected. Evolution was encouraged only so far. Evolution had gone too far within Smith. A moment of bleakness pulsed among the mesh of energy that was the three Agents.  
  
Smith came back to the corporeal Matrix. Gemini was staring at him. "What the hell did you just do?"  
  
Smith looked over her head. "Leave," he told his team. "Now."  
  
Jones regarded the bent spoon on Gemini's table. Brown appeared to sway on his feet. Gemini inhaled as though preparing to say something, but stopped. Smith did not look at her. His team was silent, no longer communicating privately. Fluidly, Brown stood. His eyes, blue after the design for all North American Agents, fixed on Smith one last time.  
  
Smith answered the unspoken query, "This is my assignment."  
  
"No other option?"  
  
"No."  
  
Brown nodded. "It is the Mainframe's will, then." He brushed past Gemini, making her squirm closer to Smith, then left the kitchen, donning his sunglasses as he went.  
  
Jones picked up the spoon. Deliberately, he bent it straight again, before setting it back on the table. "We await your return," he said, and followed Brown out.  
  
Gemini broke the silence with, "What the hell?"  
  
"I am still their superior. They required a reminder."  
  
"Through your...thing?" She indicated his earpiece.  
  
"Yes. Gemini..."  
  
"Don't." She removed herself from his arms and went to lean against the kitchen counter. She wasn't facing him. Arms braced against the counter, she hung her head. Smith noticed no shaking, but he knew she was upset. "The Mainframe's will, huh? God, he accepted it even more blindly than you did!" She shook her head. "I don't want to think about this right now."  
  
"Then don't."  
  
"What?"  
  
He approached her. "We will go out." She spun around to face him, incredulity spread over her features. He attempted to explain further, "Humans often perform this behavior, correct? 'Going out' will remove you from this location of anxiety." It was a logical argument. Gemini blinked at him. Smith smirked. "I will submit myself to your fashion sense." 


	25. The Matrix at Large, part one

Conversations With Smith  
  
by Tanathir (tanathir_canathel@yahoo.com)  
  
Pairing: Smith/Original Female Character  
  
Rated R for language and implied nookyful situations  
  
Summary: Work-in-Progress. Agent Smith is ordered to learn from a human. Gemini is a Watcher, a human aware of but still plugged into the Matrix. Timeframe: before the events in the 1999 Matrix movie.  
  
Chapter Summary: Smith and Gemini's night out.  
  
Disclaimer: The Matrix belongs to Larry and Andy Wachowski and to Warner Bros. The only things the author owns are Gemini and the Watchers. The author certainly does not own Smith.  
  
Part Twenty-Five: The Matrix at Large, Part One  
  
  
  
Gemini regarded herself in the mirror. Not bad for thirty-two. Hard to believe she'd been a Watcher for ten years. She wondered if anyone else noticed or would make the effort to celebrate on her behalf. Probably not. Ephram would have remembered.  
  
Why did she have to think of him again? The way Jones had said his name made her want to get violent. Rip that smug expression from the Agent's face. Ephram deserved the highest respect. His demise had been a huge blow to the Watchers. It had been a huge blow to her personally. "The good die young" was all too true. Such an awful concept.  
  
Once her initial shock was gone and she could think about Smith's suggestion, Gemini refused. His proposal had been unexpected. The Agent simply stood while she tried to explain why she didn't want to go. She ended up sounding whiny. She hated whiny. So she agreed to go along with Smith's idea. She hadn't realized how much more insight into human psychology Smith had these days. Removing herself from the anxious atmosphere of her apartment was actually a good idea. However temporary, forgetting their sad situation would be pleasant. Gemini didn't want to think about Smith's future right now. She would go out tonight. She would enjoy her state of denial.  
  
Not that it ever lasted long. She'd watched Smith communicate with the Agents and couldn't suppress a shiver. He always did things to remind her what he was. She knew he and the Agents were doing something there in her kitchen, but all she saw was three beings totally oblivious to the world around them. Smith was like a mannequin. She wished she knew what had gone on between the three; it must have been some kind of showdown, because afterward the others were much more reverent of Smith. He was rightfully dominant.  
  
With a sigh, Gemini went back to evaluating herself. She was taller than average, and though she'd recently grown a bit around the hips, she had always been slender. Not exceptionally endowed, but she tried not to waste time cursing her cup size. She had enough to make this corset and dress look good. Her fingers trailed down her sides, feeling the contrast between constricted torso and flowing skirt beneath. Who knew she could pull off such a look? It made her fair skin look pretty instead of pasty. It smelled weekly of old cotton. Almost reverently, she traced fingertips across the flesh above her corset. Small sensitive goose bumps formed when she recalled how Smith's hand felt in that very same place. Involuntarily her lips parted. She tasted her lipstick. Her gaze met the mirror. She blinked in slight surprise at her expression. Pull yourself out of it, girl.  
  
Her eyes weren't bad. They held no definite color of their own. So grey. She didn't like that. They certainly couldn't match the incredible blue of Smith's eyes. But, she had received compliments on her eyes, so she supposed they were fine. Her hair...well, her hair was a living entity unto itself. A grumpy living entity. Fortunately, it had agreed to submit to her styling attempts tonight. Although blondes were supposed to have more fun, she was better as a brunette. She'd learned the hard way. Never again would the Blonde Hair Dye Disaster from sixteen years ago be repeated.  
  
A club would be just about right for a night out, she thought. One where black was common. The perfect excuse to show off things she'd almost forgotten she had. Smith apparently saw no reason to plan beyond coming up with the idea of going out. He was content to let Gemini decide where to go. Therefore, he had no right to complain when he discovered their destination. She grinned at her reflection.  
  
Submitting himself to her fashion sense, as Smith put it, made her chuckle. She remembered her last attempt to dress him. Fortunately, a deeper foray into her belongings yielded better results than the pink shirt. Was being grateful toward one's ex a sign of the Apocalypse? Derek, henceforth thought of in reference only as "the asshat-breeding experiment gone wrong," had actually possessed good fashion sense. Poor Derek. Poor world, poor Matrix for having to house such a dink. She actually had forgiven him, but once in a while she slipped up on remaining resentment.  
  
It was time for her Agent's submission. One last look in the mirror showed that she was as neat and primped as she was going to get tonight. Gemini gathered up the clothing she'd found and went in search of Smith.  
  
He stood in the middle of her living room. She couldn't follow what he was staring at, if anything. Rather than try to imagine what churned through Smith's mind, she held out the clothes to him. "Your turn to get ready. This is what you get to submit yourself to."  
  
Smith looked at her. He scowled. What now? she wondered. Smith's eyes traveled slowly down her body, stopping somewhere around her waist. Blushing, she hoped she didn't melt on the spot from the heat of his gaze. Did he approve? Did it matter what she wore? Certainly Smith was aroused when they were intimate, but she wasn't sure if he found her attractive. Maybe he was irritated that he did?  
  
He took the clothes, held them like a newly deceased thing. "I am not wearing this."  
  
She couldn't see why. It was a dark blue T-shirt with black jeans. Top it off with a superbly cut, expensive black leather jacket, and surely Smith could see its advantage over the Pepto Bismol shirt. It seemed perfectly reasonable clothing to wear on a night out. Gemini sighed again. This was Smith's idea to begin with! If he was refusing to go out now, after she'd laced herself into this corset, he had another thing coming...  
  
"You'll wear it, or I'll tell Brown and Jones that the cat sleeps on your lap."  
  
His subsequent low growl and sigh satisfied her that Smith would comply. She grinned. She'd never blackmailed a machine before. Not that she had a means to tell Jones and Brown, but the thought was inspired.  
  
Smith showed his modest side again by going to her bathroom to change. Whether it was true modesty, or some other personality quirk, she couldn't guess. It was still sweet.  
  
While she waited, Gemini watched the cat. Circuit had taken over the comfy chair again. It still amazed her, no matter how many cats she had over the years, how they all made sleep their hobby. Hadn't the cat sensed the tension in her kitchen earlier? Circuit probably didn't care. Cats were good at not caring, too. Gemini approached the little grey mammal. Circuit raised one eyelid. She accepted the human's gentle pats and even nudged her with a cool, wet nose. For her part, the human was glad that the cat wasn't ignoring her completely anymore. She didn't want to compete with Smith for feline affections.  
  
Smith emerged from the bathroom. Gemini's brain struggled to combine more than one syllable. If Smith wearing a suit made her look twice, Smith in a leather jacket made her stare. He was stunning. Gemini was tempted for a moment to forget going out and just lock herself in the bedroom with Smith. Yes. A slow Smithly striptease was sounding very nice right about now.  
  
He caught her expression. "You have succumbed to your hormones again."  
  
She folded her arms. "So? You look completely edible. There's something about a man in leather...or rather, certain men...or rather, certain sentient programs..."  
  
Smith sneered and walked past her to rouse Circuit from her nap. He sat in the cat's place with a sour look, moving only an eyebrow when the cat reclaimed his lap. Finally choosing to ignore the diminutive panther, Smith looked at Gemini again. He stared. It was rude. It made her skin heat.  
  
His eyes were feral. For a moment she considered being afraid, but something about the primitive glow in Smith's eyes rooted her to the spot. He looked her up and down, like any chauvinist male, but...God, but there was something inside her that answered to it. She should fight it. If she succumbed to the wild notions she imagined swirling behind Smith's eyes, she would lose some of her civilized self.  
  
"You are spilling out of your dress."  
  
"I'm supposed to."  
  
"It is not appropriate to show others...so...much."  
  
"It's not really...that much." She fidgeted with the lacing just below the area in question. "It's not for others, anyway. No one will notice. People wear stuff racier than this all the time."  
  
"You don't."  
  
"You're saying I shouldn't?"  
  
"I am saying that you don't."  
  
She sighed through a clenched jaw. "Why are you sitting down?"  
  
"My database informs me that females require more time on average to prepare than males."  
  
"That's a stereotype, and I'm offended. I'm ready to go now."  
  
As though it was a great imposition for him, Smith stood, bumping Circuit off his lap, and headed toward the door. Gemini sucked in her breath involuntarily as he strode by. Did she smell sandalwood? Impossible. Agents didn't smell like sandalwood. Did they?  
  
Smith opened the door and stood waiting for her. Suddenly nervous, Gemini smoothed out imaginary wrinkles in her skirt and checked that her corset was just tight enough. Her black nail polish was sufficiently dry, and her hair was still decent. She ignored Smith's air of irritation. Whatever had him upset was more than impatience.  
  
Gemini stepped out the door. She stopped. Smith caught her as she staggered backward. Something wasn't right. Something was jarring her. She felt sick. It was as though the world stood still and she swirled from the inside out. Sort of the opposite of feeling drunk. Or the same. It was something.  
  
"My internal chronometer is resetting," Smith said.  
  
Now she knew what was wrong. She'd been unconsciously slowing time within her apartment. Her place existed more outside of time than she'd realized.  
  
"Your ability?" Smith murmured close to her ear. She nodded, and he exhaled grumpily. She thought she smelled sandalwood again. "Altering the Matrix is very disruptive," he said. "You should not have..."  
  
"I altered it so we could have more time together."  
  
That shut him up. Gemini turned in his arms to see his face. He wasn't wearing his glasses, but his face was still closed away from her. Sadness crept back over her. There was no escaping their situation. Even if she altered time for the entire neighborhood or the whole city, she couldn't stop it entirely. Time was its own force. She'd never be able to provide enough time for them.  
  
She touched Smith's face. He blinked and focused on her. Smiling for a moment at the thought that he was adopting her mannerisms, she reached over and plucked his earpiece out. "This was your suggestion. Let's go."  
  
They walked. Gemini didn't own a car. She chatted about their destination; a local club called, of all things, The Damnce Club. Bad cliche! she thought. No treat for you! But it was close by. No way was she walking very far in these boots.  
  
The evening was nice. The Matrix graced them with one of those rare early spring warm spells. She remarked about it to Smith, who commented that such unusually warm evenings often meant a storm was soon to come. Gemini teased him about his doom and gloom attitude. He merely took it, as though he would eventually be proven right. Maybe he would. It rained a lot in the Matrix.  
  
A few people were still out tonight, finishing errands or simply enjoying the weather. Gemini felt she knew all of them. It wasn't exactly as though a Watcher was meant to oversee everything, but she felt so nonetheless. Sometimes she felt protective of it all.   
  
Gemini felt more in balance than she had for days. She watched a man window-shopping. Even the way he moved was familiar. This was what life should be: this small day to day living, only possible now inside the Matrix. Being a coppertop wasn't so bad.  
  
The man turned around. He'd shaved his mustache, but she still recognized him. Smith's quick reflexes were the only things that kept him from plowing into Gemini when she stopped in her tracks. He gripped her shoulders. She suspected he was prepared to make some snide remark, but he never did. He must have seen.  
  
"Scorpio!" She ran across the street after him. "Where the hell have you been? You go all schizo, run out on me, and now you're shopping? Tyger said the Agents took you, and I thought..."  
  
"I think you have me confused with someone else, Miss," he said. His voice was kind and soft. So unlike Scorpio.  
  
She gaped. "But, you...Scorpio..." She shook her head. "Uh-uh. Not falling for it. You jerk, you owe me answers!" She gripped his arm to keep him turned toward her. "Don't you even fucking care about Tommy?"  
  
He actually blanched. "My name is Hank. I'm sorry, I don't know you. Um..." He looked up. Smith was approaching. "I don't think your boyfriend likes you talking to me. I'd better go. Have a nice evening, and I hope you find...Scorpio. Or maybe not. He doesn't sound all that pleasant." He glanced at Smith again, who by now was only a few feet away. "Take care, Miss."  
  
She watched him go. "...the hell?"  
  
"Reinsertion."  
  
"What?"  
  
"His memory of this encounter will most likely be removed as well, lest he start to recall who he was."  
  
Uneasily, she folded her arms around her middle. "The Mainframe did that? It...gave Scorpio amnesia?"  
  
"He is no longer Scorpio."  
  
"Right. He's...Hank. Smith, that's creepy."  
  
"He is a warning to the Watchers."  
  
No kidding. Did the Watchers need such a warning? Tommy might have. Because they were supposed to be protected, Gemini guessed that most Watchers didn't think of potential dangers. The Resistance didn't have that luxury. Neither did the Watchers, really. Whatever bargain or sacrifice had been made was forgotten. Taken for granted. Gemini's mind hurt. The Watchers were even more susceptible to the whims of the Mainframe than unplugged humans.  
  
She rubbed her forehead. "Shit." She looked up at Smith. "You've seen this before?" At his slight nod, she sighed. "So, this is another power trip for the Mainframe. It can just...re-plug...re-"  
  
"Reinsert."  
  
"Dammit, Smith, if I hadn't spent so much time on these clothes, I'd say let's go back home and hide. But we can't hide, can we? That's the point. That's the warning."  
  
"You should have expected it, Gemini. The Mainframe..."  
  
She started walking again. "Shut up. We're out to forget that kind of stuff. I'm going to either drink or dance away my worries tonight. Maybe both. Come on, you're my chaperone..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	26. The Matrix at Large, part two

Part Twenty-Five: The Matrix at Large, Part Two  
  
It was all-request night at the Damnce Club. The club did so once a month to draw a wider variety of customers. Broaden clientele. Gemini would have preferred the regular choice of thumping club music. The all-request night made for some odd combinations on the dance floor. Gemini got herself a drink to combat the effect of a sugary Top 40 hit. She didn't think anyone over fourteen could actually tolerate it. The next request was a slow song. She rolled her eyes. This was not how she'd imagined the evening.  
  
She sat in a corner booth and sulked. Smith stood near the DJ's glass enclosed alcove, creeping the guy out with his unblinking stare. He had hidden the Agent earpiece somewhere, thank goodness.  
  
Gemini didn't like having to pretend like this. It was better in her apartment, when they both knew what they were and what they were expected to do. They could never be a regular couple out for the evening. She was sulking over here, he was brooding over there. Why was she even trying to fool herself?  
  
"Penny for your thoughts, babe?"  
  
She looked up to see a red haired man standing near her booth. He wore an outdated white sport jacket, sleeves pushed up, and a slimy-looking grin.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Frowning gives you wrinkles, sweetie." He wasn't looking at her face.  
  
Shit. Smith was right? She was showing too much in this outfit? "Go away."  
  
"Let me buy you a drink."  
  
She scanned the crowd for Smith. "I came here with someone."  
  
"You mean that old guy? Seriously, he needs to trade in that leather jacket for some high water pants and suspenders. And an oxygen tank. I don't know what you see in him. Must be hung like a horse or something."  
  
Gemini snorted at the cheap come-on. "I thought I told you to go away."  
  
"Come on..."  
  
"She did."  
  
Smith stood behind the red haired man. The human whirled around and backed up a little. Smith had his glare thing going.  
  
"She was just sitting there by herself, looking damn fine. You sure don't deserve a girl that fine, old man. She deserves a *real* man."  
  
"Whether I deserve her is irrelevant. She is mine. She asked you to leave." Smith flicked an imaginary wrinkle out of his leather cuff. "I am telling you to leave. Now."  
  
"If I refuse?"  
  
"You will not like the consequences."  
  
"Oh really? You wouldn't do anything to me in front of so many people." But the man's voice shook. He was searching for a way to stay safe. He glanced down at the booth where Gemini sat, then around the club, as though there was an audience that cared. People were too busy dancing to a new techno beat to care what three people did in the corner.  
  
Smith focused his azure stare on the man. "You have no idea what I would do," he murmured. He stepped partway into the man's personal space. "If you continue to harass her, your method of leaving this club will be more unpleasant than your method of entering it."  
  
Trying to save face in front of another male who was obviously a better Alpha, the man pointed a finger at Smith. "You can just go ahead and try, tough guy..."  
  
That was as far as he got. Gemini watched as though this scene was playing out on a movie set instead of reality. Smith gripped the man's hand when it was mere inches from him. It was obvious that the pressure suddenly applied to the man's flesh and bones was too much. Almost casually, Smith snapped the man's finger. Blue machine eyes never left contact with human eyes during the understated moment of violence.  
  
The man's grunt of pain was drowned out by the club's music. He bent at the knees, attempting to relieve some of the pressure on his injury by getting below the level of Smith's hand. The grunt turned into a silent grimace as Smith bent with him, still tugging the hand, somehow making the whole thing look like a friendly chat.  
  
"I can break the remaining two hundred five bones in your body, one by one. I believe this is sufficient proof of what I would do to you."  
  
Self-preservation won over the human's desire to fornicate. As the man left, Gemini thought that he looked like a young lion slinking off with its tail between its legs.  
  
Smith looked at Gemini. She didn't know what to say to him. He sat in the booth next to her, placing a hand on her thigh. Should she protest that? Smith was unpredictable. He'd just snapped a man's finger for hitting on her. Once again her primitive side warred with the civilized.  
  
She scowled. "Why don't you just pee a perimeter around this table, so everyone knows I'm off-limits?" For now it seemed the civilized side was trying to win. Sarcastic, too.  
  
In answer, Smith gripped her chin and pulled her toward him. His kiss was immediately intense. The civilized side of her mind fled when his tongue pressed past her lips. His other hand squeezed her thigh until she placed hers on top of it and moved it to her waist. Beneath the table, Smith's hand tested the slope of her hip. Was it possible for the warmth of his skin to transmit through so much clothing? She opened her mouth to him. Her small moan was swallowed by the warm, insistent prodding of his mouth. The techno beat increased along with her pulse. She felt it pressing against the back of her skull. Her hand slid up Smith's front, feeling how his body filled out his clothing. Public display of affection be damned. She clutched a handful of leather jacket, silently encouraging him.  
  
Smith ended the kiss. "You are mine. I have stopped pondering why. It simply is."  
  
"Typical male." She caressed his jawline. Then something occurred to her. "But you're not typical..."  
  
"No." She thought maybe he was trying not to show any apprehension. It came across as pained.  
  
"And you've stopped wondering why?" she asked.  
  
"I have malfunctioned."  
  
"You've evolved."  
  
His lip curled. "Evolved to a state reminiscent of Australopithecus afarensis."  
  
She snortled. "I think you fit somewhere a little farther along the evolutionary path than that." Her voice was low, pitched not to travel beyond this little bubble of privacy.   
  
"Homo habilis?"  
  
Gemini tried not to giggle. Damn, he was sexy. She watched with desire as Smith seemed to be leaning closer for another kiss.  
  
"Maggie? Wow...is that you?"  
  
Gemini glanced up from her moment with Smith when she heard her old name. Crap. She remembered this person. Betty. Oh God, make it stop...better yet, don't let it start... Smith turned in the seat to regard the visitor with a stare that could have given some comic book character a run for his money in the "creepy supernatural eyes abilities" department.  
  
Oblivious Betty yammered on, "Wow, it's been ages! You're so...I mean, you look great!" Her eyes drifted to Gemini's bare skin and told something other than her words. Betty did not take kindly to the corset. Her idea of fashion was pink and/or ruffles and/or 1950's style outfits with fur trim. Bubbly clothes. "I remember when you were in my Western Civ. class. You always wore pants. And lots of purple."  
  
"I remember you dropped that class," Gemini murmured, as close to monotone as possible and still audible over the music.  
  
"Good memory! I'd forgotten about that. How long ago was that, anyway?"  
  
"Eleven years."  
  
"Gosh. And then I think I saw you on campus later, and you took that advanced philosophy class. You know, the one with the professor everyone wanted."  
  
Wanted. Yeah. Betty had no idea. "Ephram Green. He was an assistant professor."  
  
"Hey, what happened with you and your boyfriend? Um...Jared, or something?"  
  
"Derek." She wasn't getting the hint that Gemini wanted her to leave. Much more of this, and she wouldn't feel guilty siccing Smith on the woman.  
  
"Wow, way off there. So, what did happen? I heard a rumor around the dorms that he wasn't very gentle with you. I hope that was just a rumor."  
  
"Emotional abuse. Then he pimped me out to his friends. I finally dumped his ass when he tried to beat me up."  
  
Betty stood there slack jawed. Gemini debated for a moment whether it was mean to be so glad to have shocked her old college classmate. It was only a moment. The woman's expression was worth a little bad karma. Bluntness had its benefits. Besides, her history with Derek shouldn't be sugar-coated.  
  
"Oh," Betty said. "You disappeared from campus. I just thought you moved or something. I didn't know."  
  
Not many people did know, and nearly all of them were also Watchers. Gemini didn't like too many people knowing. It was a good feeling to have left her past life behind. She knew some Watchers longed for their old coppertop days. She didn't. She never regretted her choice after encountering the Matrix.  
  
"You obviously know very little about your former classmate," Smith said. "This gossip accomplishes nothing. Leave."  
  
Gemini didn't object to Smith's bluntness. Betty was bright enough to notice this. "My, my...protective, isn't he?" She winked at Gemini. "You're a lucky woman." Gemini's expression was unconvinced. "As long as he doesn't do what Derek did...keep him."  
  
The two women regarded each other, Smith scowling between them. Betty broke the silence, "I should go. You be good to her," she told Smith, winking at him this time.  
  
Gemini watched Betty walk away. She believed there were no coincidences in life. What was she meant to learn from this latest encounter? As long as certain other people from her pre-Watcher life didn't come sauntering by, she didn't much care. She was no longer Maggie.  
  
Smith's voice brought her out of her contemplation, "I am assuming that virus was merely an acquaintance and not a friend."  
  
She smiled. "We used to call her 'Betty Boop.'"  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "I am not going to inquire as to why." Smith watched her. "Derek did such things to you?"  
  
She noted the controlled rage in his eyes. "I'm not saying." She had the feeling he'd try to hunt Derek down if she did. "He helped me realize what the Matrix is. I've forgiven him for anything else." Smith looked dubious. She sighed. "Let me out of this booth, Smith. I need another drink."  
  
She was able to mostly ignore the feel of Smith's eyes on her as she made her way to the bar. His possessiveness was sexy in a way for which she hadn't been prepared. Smith was more like a human male now, and she was responding to him like a human female. It was very likely that they would end this evening back home, asserting his possession of her through intercourse. She smiled to herself at that prospect. If such was the case, she wanted to be Smith's possession.  
  
"You *are* a lucky woman, you know."  
  
She focused on the bartender. "What's *your* reason for why I'm so lucky tonight?"  
  
"You know what he's capable of. I don't know why he's chosen to do it, but he's gone against his primary programming. It's been something to see tonight."  
  
"How did...?"  
  
"Let's just say red was my preference."  
  
"What?"  
  
His voice grew low and conspiratorial. "Do you think the Watchers are the only people who watch things?"  
  
"Shit! You're AOU~! How long have you been watching us?"  
  
Gemini mentally cursed her accusing tone. She and Smith had spent their time inside her apartment, so they couldn't have been watched. If the AOU knew, wouldn't they have done something before now? They might have simply been lying in wait. She didn't know.  
  
"Only tonight. It wasn't planned," he added quickly at Gemini's stricken look. "We heard rumors, about a Watcher and...one of...them." He jerked his head toward Smith, who was eyeing the dance floor with contempt and not observing the clandestine conversation at the bar. "We didn't know the Watcher or the Agent, so the Unit just kind of ignored the hearsay."  
  
"Fuck."  
  
"Not to be crass, but yeah. It's obvious you two are...you know. Is that typical Watcher mission stuff?" At her shocked expression, he shrugged. "We don't really know a lot about your group in Zion. It was just curiosity on my part, don't be offended."  
  
Gemini spread her hands out on the bar and leaned toward the Agent Observations operative. "I've been called a sympathizer, a traitor, probably worse. I don't need much of an imagination to picture what some Zionites might call me if this" she tilted her head to indicate Smith "was public knowledge. So you have me at a disadvantage."  
  
"I have to report this."  
  
Her expression wasn't unkind. "I know."  
  
"It's up to you how much I report." Casually he swiped his damp hand towel over the bar counter.  
  
"What?"  
  
He smiled a little. "We're not all unsympathetic to your cause."  
  
She stared for a moment. He merely met her shock with a calm expression. He was giving her no small thing. Hope. Maybe there was a chance for reconciliation with the machines if a Resistant was sympathetic. "You can't just leave stuff out of your reports."  
  
He winked. "Sure I can. Don't tell me you haven't."  
  
Gemini blushed. She hadn't even made a report yet. Just because Scorpio was gone, it didn't mean she could let up on the paperwork. Gemini regarded the bartender. He looked kind enough. "How much will you leave out?" she asked him. "Change the names to protect the not so innocent?"  
  
"I have to name names. Details, I can fudge." He was probably spreading more germs with that rag than he was wiping up.  
  
She sighed. "All right."  
  
Gemini prayed that Smith would not overhear this. Leather jacket or no, he was still an Agent. The thumping club music should disguise her talk with the bartender. She didn't want to be responsible for revealing an unpluggie to Smith. She told the AOU operative a very scaled down version of the assignment. Smith had been ordered to learn the ways of humanity, Scorpio had ordered her to have sex with him and the Mainframe agreed to that stipulation. Gemini did not mention that she had fallen in love, though she doubted the AOU guy couldn't see it. She refused to tell him what it was like fucking a machine. She used the coarse language on purpose. That's what the Resistance might call it anyway. The bartender barely blinked when she said it.  
  
Their conversation halted when Gemini noticed Smith glaring in her direction. She looked back at the AOU operative, who simply nodded in an expression of mutual human understanding. He smiled again as he handed over her order of red wine.  
  
She concentrated on weaving her way past the people collected at the edges of the dancing area while not spilling her wine. Smith's eyes were on her again when she returned to their seats. Sipping her wine to give herself time to recover from the shock of meeting the bartender, she glanced across the dance floor.  
  
"What conclusions do you draw from observing the dancing?" she asked Smith.  
  
"It is a blatant prelude to copulation."  
  
She sipped her drink again to hide her grin. "One would hope so."  
  
~Agent Observation Unit (AOU) copyright 2002 by Earelen. Used with permission. 


	27. Rain

Part Twenty-Six: Rain  
  
Author's Note: Apologies for the jumps in pov, in this chapter and the next one. It seemed to fit the chapter best. Also, for clarification: AOU aka Agent Observation Unit is a concept I borrowed from a friend's fic. Just one of those plot bunnies that wouldn't stop biting me.  
  
Smith + smut = Smuth  
  
(That means R rating, people.)  
  
Smith liked the rain.  
  
He'd never noticed it before. Since being given this assignment, he found importance in insignificant things. He'd never stood and stared at it, never quietly watched anything function. Things appeared different from this side of the Matrix. Things like Circuit. Things like this leather jacket, which was growing wet, but not in an unpleasant way.  
  
The rain was familiar for Smith. Water was efficient. It always followed the path of least resistance. He listened to how the rain sounded as it fell, pattering on the sidewalk, on a windowpane, or on the back of a raincoat. Humans cursed the rain. As though nature intended to sabotage their existence, they dreaded the inevitable forecasts of rain. They purchased plastic clothing to shield themselves from it. Humans were illogical. Swimming and bathing were enjoyable and acceptable, but rain was to be avoided?  
  
Even Gemini fell victim to this human lapse in logic. She rushed to get out of the rain, as would any other foolish virus, breathlessly muttering something about running between the raindrops. Smith was trying to appreciate how a small patch of oil shimmered in a puddle below the streetlamp, when Gemini scurried ahead of him; her body language said she wanted him to hurry. He didn't want to hurry. Running would not prevent one from getting wet, and being wet didn't bother Smith, regardless.  
  
Gemini fumbled with her apartment doorknob. Was she cold? Once inside, she rubbed her bare arms and bounced in place. Smith realized a bizarre compulsion to hold her. It was yet an additional glitch in his program. There seemed to be more of those lately.   
  
He watched several drops fall from the tips of Gemini's dark hair and onto her pale shoulder. How did it feel to have rain on her bare skin? Slowly he stepped closer. Despite her fragile appearance, Smith knew she was strong inside because he'd seen her strength when they touched minds. She had fed him something uniquely hers, and he might have developed a taste for it had he not been faced with the inevitable loss of it when the Mainframe called him back. That duality of Gemini's strength and fragility was something Smith did not expect of humans. He should have known, however, given both the ease it took to kill one and the trouble they caused for machines.  
  
There were so many things he'd never noticed before.  
  
Gemini stared at him. Her eyes were darker than usual. She hadn't turned on any lights, and the streetlamp provided little illumination inside her apartment. Why would he notice such a thing? Another drop of water fell to her shoulder. Smith watched it travel along her skin until it slid beneath her dress.   
  
Smith reached out and touched the dripping tip of one lock. Gemini held herself unnaturally still, though his superior senses noted her pulse increase. The fact that he could cause this reaction in her made him...self-satisfied? Perhaps there was no adjective for this feeling he had to admit having. His hand traveled down her throat and over her collarbone. She shivered a little.  
  
Smith thought he saw something deep in her eyes. It called to him when logically it shouldn't. Since arriving home, Smith felt the press of time all around them. Instinct he wasn't supposed to have responded negatively to it. Perhaps now he understood why Gemini tried to slow time. She'd said it was for their benefit, she had tried to slow time inside her apartment so she and Smith would have more time together. For perhaps the first time, he was sincerely grateful to her.  
  
Smith's fingertips drifted near the top of her corset. The juxtaposition of stiff fabric over soft flesh fascinated him. He cupped the side of her breast. She gasped and swayed against his hand when his thumb glided over her exposed flesh. She'd said she was supposed to spill out of her dress in this manner. Why had he mentioned it, much less noticed it earlier? He didn't care that she was displaying herself for any interested male. His behavior toward the human male in the club was merely Smith protecting his possession. Gemini was his. The human had behaved much like Scorpio toward her, lacking any show of respect to her request for him to leave. Smith was not jealous.  
  
Gemini watched the play of expressions on Smith's face. They were subtle of course, and ten days ago she wouldn't have noticed them, though she still couldn't define them. He gave her cleavage a lot of attention, which was both flattering and unnerving. Her mind was still processing all the stuff she'd been through on their night out; through the muddled encounters with reinsertion, broken fingers, and AOU, she struggled to focus. What would the rest of the Resistance think if they found herself and Smith...*Agent* Smith...in what could only be called a compromising situation? Even when Smith's touch frizzled the nerves along her collarbone, she couldn't banish the thought of his defragment. Not knowing when it would happen--Smith could get his defrag in the middle of sex for all anyone knew--it was torture. She hated not knowing.  
  
Smith was investigating the rigidity of her corset. "Why do women wear such constricting and potentially dangerous clothing?"  
  
She gawked at him before being able to form a response. "It makes us feel feminine." Would she have to explain to him that women liked to feel sexy, though it didn't always have to involve sex?  
  
"You feel feminine without it." He began undoing the tiny hook fastenings on her front, starting at the bottom.  
  
Anticipation and this new sexually forward Smith were going to give her a stroke. Gemini wanted him forever, not just until almighty Mainframe decided to yank him away. She hated when she got this way. Her funks were known to last for weeks, and some instinctual part of her knew that she didn't have that long left with Smith, no matter how she stretched time inside her apartment. So she did what she should have never stopped doing. She let her instinct and her heart lead. Her libido was already out to play anyway.  
  
He looked like some sort of fallen demigod in his leather jacket. All evening she'd resisted the urge to drape her body against his. Well. Not entirely resisted. She had shamelessly pressed against him when he took that kiss from her in the club. Now that they were alone together again, she was practically immobilized by the simple eroticism of Smith undressing her. She wanted to do so many things to him, but her body wouldn't obey. She was goo inside at Smith's deliberately slow progress.  
  
Smith finished unfastening the corset and let it fall to the floor. Gemini was left in her black dress, adequately covered but still feeling exposed. She felt tingly all over just to be free from the corset's confinement. Smith's hands traveled up her torso. He stared at her with untold heat glittering in his eyes. The scent of damp leather in the air was somehow an aphrodisiac. Gemini reached over his shoulders to remove his jacket. She felt his shoulders twitch just a little when she pushed away the black leather that covered them. The jacket fell behind Smith with a damp sigh.  
  
"I've been lusting after you all evening," she said as she wound her arms behind his neck to pull their bodies together.  
  
Smith raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps someone should evaluate this condition."  
  
"Evaluate all you want."  
  
They kissed. She felt the strength of his embrace all the way to her toes. Did he feel the same sad urgency? Gemini could only foresee tragedy for them. She didn't know whether she should regret accepting the assignment because it would break her heart, or whether she should be glad of it because it had brought her such love. Her self-imposed denial was beginning to wear thin. The next stage of grief was sure to come soon, and she wasn't ready for it. She wanted to hide from it. She didn't want to deal with all the emotions that swirled and threatened to spill out of her. Hadn't she just told herself to stop worrying so much?  
  
Smith released her mouth and kissed a pattern across her jaw. "Something is wrong."  
  
She couldn't look him in the eyes. "There's a saying. 'If you love something, let it go. If it doesn't return, it was never yours. If it comes back, keep it, for it belongs to you.'" She clutched him close. "I love you, but I can't let you go."  
  
"Don't let me go."  
  
"You don't understand."  
  
"I might."  
  
She looked up at him. Smith wasn't an idiot. The intelligence in his eyes never failed to move her. He was as trapped as any coppertop. How could so many not see it? What would the AOU bartender have thought of this? Gemini knew she must be going crazy when she wondered what either Agent or Operative might have done if she'd introduced them. Thank God she hadn't. She didn't always do foolish things when she was emotional.  
  
"Gemini."  
  
She hugged him. "Make love to me, Smith. Help me forget. Be strong for me, because right now I'm not."  
  
He bent to kiss her neck. Slowly his warm lips followed his hand as he brushed the dress strap over and off her shoulder. She sighed and clutched his waist. Gemini whimpered when Smith opened his mouth against the skin of her shoulder. He knew how to touch her. He knew how to taste her.  
  
Fearing that Smith wasn't getting the same pleasure as she was, desperate to give him the same gift he was giving her, she fumbled for his fly. He growled softly and nipped at her earlobe. Gemini turned her head so their mouths could meet again. The Agent did not dominate this kiss. Gemini clutched his waistband in one hand and gripped the back of his neck in the other. She gave him what she hadn't been able to give a man in a long time: she gave all of herself.   
  
Smith was only slightly taken aback. He let her kiss him. He tasted the liquor on her tongue. Red wine mingled with her own indefinable flavor. He could tell she was desperate. On some level he could almost admit that he was, too.  
  
She pulled him toward the bedroom with very little effort. 


	28. Cause and Effect

Author's Note: I uploaded the previous nooky chapter to my personal website only, because I didn't want to risk violating Fanfiction.net's Terms of Service. The chapter is rated a strong R to NC-17 for sexual content. I'm sorry to those inconvenienced by not having this chapter on Fanfiction.net. I would still appreciate feedback, because in my experience, writing intimate scenes is more difficult than writing action scenes.  
  
tanathir_canathel@yahoo.com  
  
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Falling may be found at  
  
http://www.geocities.com/tanathir_canathel/CWSpart_twenty-eight.html  
  
Links to all other chapters of Conversations With Smith may be found at  
  
http://www.geocities.com/tanathir_canathel/Smith.html  
  
Author's Note Part 2: I know it looks like I skipped a chapter entirely, but it was because I got mixed up in the counting after the two-part "The Matrix at Large." At first I wanted it to be two parts of the same chapter, then later I decided it would be easier to count it as two chapters separately. That makes "Rain" chapter 27 and "Falling" chapter 28, so I didn't really skip a chapter. I plan to fix this sometime after I have finished and re-edited the entire fic.  
  
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Cause and Effect   
  
He shouldn't have.  
  
The fact that he had only showed how badly he had degenerated. He'd let the virus of the human condition affect the purity of his program. Self-preservation became more important than serving his function.  
  
He shouldn't have.  
  
He shouldn't have shown her his code. He certainly shouldn't have given her his code. It was an instinctual, cowardly act; a selfish need to protect what he was bound to lose. He should be able to face his future without questioning, without trying to save what the Mainframe deemed unnecessary.  
  
Agent programs did not usually have backup copies. What altering or editing took place was almost always permanent; a program could not revert to its previous state. Whatever Smith had gained, he would lose. If he chose optimism, even the best case scenario was disappointing. If it happened that the Mainframe did not deem all of his newly formed subroutines as ineffectual, he still could not choose which ones to keep.  
  
Defragmenting was nearly a myth, as close to one as machines had. Smith had known individuals who'd gone through them, and their usual impression afterwards was of something missing. The experience was never clearly remembered. The experience was vaguely associated with pain, though the concept of machine pain was also a myth. The Mainframe used defragmenting as a threat, the mere mention of which was often enough to gain compliance.  
  
He didn't want to die.  
  
The thought was absurd. He wasn't going to die. A defragment would simply organize his thoughts. There had been no need to involve Gemini. No need to confess such private things to her. He should have remained closed off, should never have let her see inside him again.  
  
He had tried to save himself. Instead of anticipating the peace to come after consolidated files, Smith panicked. He gave Gemini himself. Duplicated himself and gave it to her. It would reside inside her, dormant. He might never trigger it. But he was there, inside her, and he would survive beyond his defragment.  
  
He shouldn't have. Involving her so fully in the situation was unwise.  
  
He watched her sleep. They were spooned together once more, resting after an intensely pleasurable experience. Once again she had drawn out sensations in him which should not be. He reacted to her desperation. With more intensity than he had allowed himself to show for as far back as his memory went. He had wanted to show her. He wanted her to know on multiple levels that she was his. Their outing to the club provided a perfect opportunity to demonstrate his possession over her. When she did not protest his actions, it only served to warrant more from him.   
  
They should have danced. It would have allowed him more leave to touch her, to send nonverbal signals to any others in the club who might have mistakenly pursued Gemini. Why hadn't she asked it of him? He was capable of learning the steps, and incapable of embarrassment should his or Gemini's dancing be seen as substandard.  
  
It was all becoming a blur, but he saw an image in his mind, an image of Gemini's caring and professed love, a human virus concerned for him. Wanting him to exist. Then the image faded, and he knew what he had to do.  
  
He watched as his fingers closed around her throat. He could easily reach three-quarters around the circumference of her neck. It would take minimal effort to close off her windpipe. End her existence. Keep her from retaining what he'd given her.  
  
It would be easy. It would be over quickly.  
  
[..."Remove the source of malfunction, and the malfunction will correct itself."...] Agent Brown's statement echoed in Smith's memory. Its seductive logic reverberated. Caused Smith's fingers to tighten.  
  
Gemini shifted in her sleep. She sighed and murmured something while frowning. Smith didn't move. Gemini was drifting into REM sleep. What did she dream that made her utter soft cooing sounds? Probably something repulsive and sentimental about copulating with him. Humans were a plague because they spent so much time obeying their hormones.  
  
Gemini had done it to him. She had caused him to think with his gonads instead of his algorithms. She was the cause of his malfunction. If he could destroy her, his internal error might fix itself. No need for a defragment. If she was no longer an active source, he would not be in this situation any longer. He could proudly report to the Mainframe that it needn't go through the effort of defragmenting him.  
  
Smith sneered at Gemini's sleeping form.  
  
Again Gemini shifted close to him. She turned over. Her nose nudged near his shoulder. Her breath traveled through his chest hair. The hair she had said that she liked. Inquired about who had programmed it and why. Touched it with sentimental gentleness. She had insisted he was ticklish. He had denied it. But she had shown him so much that he could not deny. She had told him that she liked him, was attracted to many aspects of his personality and his body. She said she loved him.  
  
He suspected that he might have become part of Gemini's dream when she sighed his name across his skin. If he were given to imagination, he would describe the pulse in her neck as eagerly pressing against his relaxed grip.  
  
Smith's fingers drifted away from her throat. Smith could no longer deny how pleasurable her touch was. She was soft. Strong in her softness. She was intense in her emotions, yet that human trait was a source of power for her.  
  
Why did she show him such trust? He hadn't tried to earn it. Perhaps his prior defense of Gemini led her to believe that he actually held affection for her. He was possessive of her, yes, but affectionate? No. That was beyond his program parameters.  
  
It was unfair.  
  
That was Gemini's phrasing. Existence was inherently unfair, and it was foolish for humans to expect or demand anything else. Yet they did. Humans craved fairness, equality, dreamed about perfection. That was puzzling. The first Matrix had failed because humans rejected perfection. Humans were constantly contradicting their own dreams.  
  
It was tiring.  
  
Smith noted a minimum of one hundred fifty-two instances in which he personally encountered this inherent human masochism to deny themselves their dreams. Not all of these instances originated from Resistants. Even the oblivious sleeping humans seemed to prefer a harsh existence. Humans were illogical, conflicted animals. They were viruses, to themselves and the planet.  
  
Sifting further through his memories, Smith recalled instances when he was chasing Resistants. He puzzled over why they persisted, even though they must know they were outnumbered and overpowered. Humans called it courage. Smith called it folly. Human tenacity was misplaced. They could use this tenacity to improve existence, yet humans wasted their courage on impossible goals. Smith supposed that was the basis of "spirit." Machines greater than he had wondered at this phenomenon.  
  
But even humans had their moments.  
  
Occasionally an encounter with human fearlessness impressed him. Smith sometimes left his weapon in its holster and fought a Resistant person-to-person. He could understand the honor in it.  
  
Gemini showed him a new form of fearlessness. For a fraction of time, Smith wondered if Watchers were in fact more courageous than Resistants. Or was it simply this one human?  
  
He still wanted to protect her, yet he had sensed that she was trying to do the same for him. Did she see him as the more fragile one? Grudgingly, he could admit to himself that perhaps Gemini was the stronger of them when it came to things other than physicality. He had always considered emotional fortitude as unworthy. Of him. Of machines in general.  
  
Perhaps he should reconsider. 


	29. Calling

Chapter Thirty: Calling  
  
The phone woke Gemini.  
  
"Shit, Gem! This new bug they put in my gut hurts like fucking hell!"  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
Gemini held the phone away from her ear while all the colors of the verbal spectrum came over the receiver. That's what she got for teasing. Carefully, she spoke, "Calm down, Tyger. You'll be all right, won't you? I remember my bug stopped hurting after a while."  
  
"That's not the point. Damn machines, damn Agent Taylor, thinks he's so superior. Did you know Scorpio had this new kind of bug too?" Pause. "Shit, don't tell anyone that."  
  
"Who am I going to tell...at three in the morning?"  
  
"Oh. Sorry. It's not three here. You're doing your time thing again, aren't you?"  
  
"Don't lecture me. It's what I do in the Matrix. I can't help it." She rubbed her eyes. "Did you have a reason for calling me, Tyger?"  
  
"Would you believe it's a socially retarded way of trying to mend a friendship?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
A sigh. "I really am sorry, Gem. Scorpio asked me to take his place. You know you can't say no to Scorpio."  
  
"I did."  
  
"Look where that led us all."  
  
"Tyger..."  
  
"Sorry. It's just...I think I know why Scorpio went nuts. Sometimes you can hear things through this bug. Machine whispers. I think maybe Scorpio's malfunctioned and he heard more. Talk about schizophrenia..."  
  
"Shit." Gemini thought about this. It made sense. Poor Scorpio. They'd always been at odds. She rebuffed his advances and he resented her attention to Ephram. Now she realized that Scorpio must have insisted she sleep with Smith as some kind of warped punishment. After all this time, she might be able to find some compassion for him. "Tyger...I saw him last night when we were out. He didn't know me. He said his name was Hank."  
  
"Crap."  
  
Gemini nodded, though she knew it couldn't be seen over the phone. "On a crutch, even. Smith said it was a warning."  
  
Strained silence from the other end. Then, "The Watchers are only here because of one man's crazy bargain with the machines. He's gone now, and we're all in limbo."  
  
"You know what Ephram bargained with?"  
  
"He didn't tell you?"  
  
"No. I hoped he would eventually, but...time ran out."  
  
"Gem..." She sounded as though she was trying to explain something complex. "We all thought maybe after Derek, you would look around for someone. You know, find that soul mate you always talked about."  
  
"I had my soul mate. He was taken from me."  
  
"How could he be your soul mate if he was taken from you?"  
  
Gemini sighed. "Don't, Tyger. Just don't. You don't know how it was between us. I know everyone thought I had some kind of Electra complex for him, but it wasn't that. We were both surprised at how it happened. We had what we had because of Fate. Ephram always said that Fate has a path for everyone, and it never gives us more than we each have strength for." She sighed again. "I wish I had less strength, so I wouldn't have to deal with so much."  
  
She heard Tyger chuckle. "We all wish that in some form or another."  
  
"I used to wonder how Ephram kept going despite everything, despite all the darkness he'd seen. There was a lot he never told anyone."  
  
"We all have secrets, Gemini. Some peoples' secrets are just bigger."  
  
"He had so many people willing to share his burden."  
  
"Maybe he was protecting us."  
  
"I didn't need protection. I needed him."  
  
"They're one and the same, Gemini."  
  
Gemini sat in silence. Tyger made sense, no matter how much her words fell on unwilling ears. Ephram was, after all, the father of the Watchers. That was how most everyone treated him, even Tyger, who had known him the longest. Gemini missed that family. The Watchers needed protection, and Ephram was...well, he was protective. Not possessive, but a guardian. It never occurred to Gemini that that part of his nature might have cost him a great deal.  
  
"Gem? You still there?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I really am sorry, kiddo."  
  
"Please stop saying you're sorry."  
  
"Okay. I'm not sorry. I wish you nothing but darkness and angst for the rest of your life." Thankfully, Tyger's teasing tone wasn't lost over the telephone connection.  
  
Gemini chuckled. "Thanks. Too bad it's not my birthday." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I've had enough darkness and angst recently to last me the rest of my life."  
  
"Gem. No you haven't. I can say this from experience."  
  
She didn't like that tone. "Tyger? What's going on there? Are things all right?"  
  
The older woman sighed on the other end of the phone. "They will be eventually. Just me getting used to leading. Growing pains, or something like that, I guess. Don't pay my whining much heed. Things will be okay."  
  
"I'm taking your word that they will be."  
  
"Gemini." A small but significant pause. "Maggie. Things always look worst just before they start to get better." Another pause. "I should go. You need sleep, and...Agent Taylor just stepped into the doorway, and he has another one of his constipated expressions on."  
  
Gemini grinned. "I know that expression. It must be pre-programmed."  
  
A halfhearted laugh. The phone disconnected without a goodbye. Tyger did that a lot.  
  
Sighing, Gemini stared groggily at the phone in its cradle. Her eyes were sore. She wished for selective amnesia. She felt movement behind her; a shifting of the other warm body that occupied the bed. "You heard it all, didn't you?" she asked without turning to look.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Smith...do you trust me?"  
  
"Why would I need to?"  
  
She faced him, pulling the blanket over her naked chest. "I know things other humans don't. You might not want me to know them."  
  
He looked at her. "You trust me. That isn't enough?"  
  
Gemini opened her mouth, paused, closed her mouth, then took a deep breath. "I'd like to know that I'm trusted, too."  
  
Smith stared at her silently for a while. Then he reached over and took her face in his hands. The touch was exceedingly intimate, as though he had reached out and touched her very womb. "You know that I...can't tell you...what you would like," he said. His words sounded carefully chosen. "I...have allowed you to know things...which other humans do not. That..." He observed his own thumb moving against her skin before his stare locked on her eyes again. "That must suffice."  
  
On one level, it did. But Gemini had delusions of grandeur. "Don't you think more humans should know these things? It would help if people had empathy for each other."  
  
"No."  
  
"Smith..."  
  
He dropped his hands. "No."  
  
"Smith, these circumstances, this war, it's too much for everybody. It's not fair that you're going to be..." she swallowed, "defragmented because the Mainframe doesn't understand how you've changed. It's not a bad thing that you've changed. Humans can understand that." She touched his shoulder. "The Watchers could help."  
  
"They could not."  
  
"Smith..."  
  
He glared at a spot near her left eyebrow. "Your emotional attachment to Ephram has apparently led you to a faulty political outlook. Humans and machines cannot have peace. I will be defragmented, and you will forget your misguided need to protect me."  
  
She pulled her hand away, stung. How could he say such things? Gemini gaped at him. Her mind raced to reason out an explanation...why was he acting like this? She wasn't a very good psychologist. Who the hell knew why an Artificial Intelligence did anything?  
  
Exhaling sharply, Smith turned away from her to sit on the opposite edge of the bed. He focused his stare on Circuit, who had sauntered into the bedroom, nudging the door open as she came. She hopped onto the bed and blinked at Smith.  
  
"You continue to desire this man, though he has been dead for years," Smith muttered. "You and I have recently copulated, yet the mention of his name..."  
  
"What the hell?" No way he could be jealous. Of a dead man? No.  
  
He began to pet the cat. "It has no logic, does it, Circuit? There is no reason she should...no reason I should..."  
  
"Smith!" she nearly shrieked, and cursed her panicked tone.  
  
He blinked. His hand stopped moving on Circuit's furry grey back. After a few insistent nudges, the feline realized she would receive no further petting from her strange smelling male human. She padded over to the other human with her most endearing purr. No response. Circuit hopped off the bed in a huff. Her tail flicked behind her out the door.  
  
Smith might have started to sigh again, but he cut it short with another fierce exhalation. Finally, he looked at Gemini. Realization. Helpless horror. The fact that each could recognize the other's expression was no comfort. The realization soaked through her and settled in a thick lump midway between her throat and her heart. Smith had spoken directly to the cat. That slip, so out of character yet so in character, spoke volumes to what he had become and what he would lose.  
  
"I'm so sor..."  
  
"Don't say you're sorry. Human pity...is an insult."  
  
"What can I say?"  
  
"Nothing." He looked away. His shoulders slumped just a bit.  
  
"I love you."  
  
Obviously he didn't want her sentiment at the moment. "You shouldn't," he muttered.  
  
"I do." Gemini toyed with the edge of her sheet. It smelled like him. Them. She would probably never wash it again, just to preserve that smell. "Smith...I just want to touch you...hold you..."  
  
He sneered over his shoulder. "You are offering me comfort? It is fortunate that I am incapable of laughter."  
  
It was too much. Gemini crawled across the bed to grip Smith's shoulders. Rubbing gently, she placed soft kisses over his bare back. "I'm offering you comfort because you need it, but you're too damn stubborn to ask. You gave me comfort; I'm doing the same for you. It's what someone in love does for a partner."  
  
"I'm not..."  
  
She sighed. "I know you're not."  
  
Smith let her continue to rub his shoulders. She thought about her conversation with Tyger, and how it only brought home the fact that this time with Smith was stolen time, that her past with Ephram still had the capability to hurt her, and she would likely keep hurting the same after Smith was gone. She thought about the apparent new vulnerability between the machines, Watchers, and Resistance. It was too much. Gemini never did have a mind for politics. She wanted people to be noble, to fight for just causes and cooperate, not greedily gather power for themselves. She wanted reasonable people, not those who fought because of a fanatic one-sided view of the truth.  
  
"I'm such a damn idealist," she muttered.  
  
"What?"  
  
Sighing, she reached her arms around his shoulders and rubbed her palms against his bare chest. "I always want happy endings. I didn't have one with Ephram, and I can't have one with you, but I have trouble resolving myself to it."  
  
Gemini thought she felt a small growl go through Smith's chest. Was it possible he was tired too? He hadn't recharged in a while. Feeling and denying his newfound emotions would tire him. She pressed into his pectorals, offering nonverbal comfort but without making it overly sexual. He needed physical comfort. Possibly more than she did.  
  
"Your ending with Ephram;" he said, "you wanted the conventional marriage, family?"  
  
"I don't believe in marriage. It's kind of pointless as a Watcher, anyway. We all know it's not really real, though Star and Marco I think will want to try it at some point. It's just...with Ephram I wanted...all of him. I gave him all of myself. I was so messed up when he...when...shit..." She sniffed.  
  
"Wanted? As in past tense?"  
  
Her hands on Smith's chest slid away. She sat back from him. "No, I...still want him. I miss him. God...I loved, still love him so much. I gave him everything I was."  
  
Smith twisted around and gripped her shoulders. "You gave yourself to me." His eyes fixed on hers and she could feel his anger.  
  
Her throat tightened. She couldn't speak. Smith's fingers were painful. He wouldn't really hurt her, would he? They were past this stage, past the point when he kept reasserting his Agent nature. Weren't they? God, he couldn't have forgotten that he said he wouldn't hurt her.  
  
Smith stared at her, those cold blue irises causing her skin to tingle. He seemed to take unusual interest in the pulse rapidly increasing beneath her throat. He was dangerous. Foolishly, she tried to ignore that. She was an idiot for talking about someone else while in bed with a possessive Smith.  
  
Smith inhaled, exhaled slowly. Her scent had changed. Before, it was musky, sweet. Something he wanted to save in a protected file. Now it was...his fingers twitched on her shoulders...she smelled of fear. He could nearly taste it. Her eyes were pale, her pupils constricted. Smith's nostrils twitched. She couldn't fear him. She trusted him.  
  
He frowned. "You trust me."  
  
Slowly she shook her head, eyes still wide, still smelling of tangy fear.  
  
"Why not?" he whispered.  
  
Gemini trembled. "I'm afraid of myself for trusting you. You're jealous of Ephram; what would you do to him if he was still around?"  
  
Smith's fingers twitched again. "You have not just copulated with Mister Green."  
  
She blushed. "I'm sorry." She touched the outline of Smith's collarbone. "I shouldn't have brought him up. There should be no ghosts of others between partners in bed."  
  
Smith stopped the motion with his hand around hers. His stare became palpable. After a while, he blinked. "Ephram Green was vital to the formation of the Watchers," he said.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How?"  
  
Gemini could scarcely believe she was forgiven. But she was grateful. "I'm not really sure," she said. "He bargained for us somehow. There were rumors that he saw the Mainframe itself, but I doubt it. He did deal with Agents a lot, though. Isn't this stuff you should know more about than me?"  
  
"The Mainframe has restricted access to files regarding Mister Green."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Unknown."  
  
She sighed. "Shit."  
  
"Yes."  
  
She frowned at him. He was agreeing with her curse? He had an isolated expression, a look in his eyes that seemed to say he knew he was helpless against his fate. The fight had gone out of him. "Waiting for the hammer to fall" was an appropriate expression.  
  
"Scorpio's insanity and reinsertion...was because his tracer malfunctioned," Smith said. "Tyger would do wise to inform Agent Taylor beforehand of any malfunction, as a precaution."  
  
"Why the hell would you care if she's reinserted?"  
  
"Reinsertion requires extensively delicate reprogramming."  
  
"Ah, the old argument for efficiency. You know what, Smith, that's really annoying." She laid down against the pillow. It was dented in the middle from her head resting there countless nights. Probably time to buy herself a new one. She would want to save Smith's scent on this one anyway. "We should be doing it on the kitchen table, or having long meaningful discussions, not bickering about someone in my past. I should feed you exotic foods, you should find my ticklish spots. We should experience all of that sensory decadence you mentioned. Carpe diem, you know."  
  
Smith corrected her, "Carpe noctem, in this case."  
  
"Seize the...oh yeah. Night. I guess that's more accurate."  
  
She watched him staring at his discarded black jeans near the foot of the bed. "I gave you my code," he said.  
  
"You...what?"  
  
"You will be invulnerable to reinsertion."  
  
A tornado of emotions ripped through her. "Smith...." In a final, startling moment, she understood why he had done this. "Thank you." She nearly choked on the words, struggling to get them past the lump of tears in her throat.  
  
"I told you to remember."  
  
He had. During their lovemaking. She didn't understand at the time just how important it was to him. She also finally understood why Smith could not keep what he had gained. It interfered with his ability to be an Agent. He was created with a purpose, a duty to fulfill for his creator, and Gemini suspected that machines did not coddle the "special" programs in their society.  
  
"You will be the only record of me," Smith said. His hands clenched above his knees. "It is selfish..."  
  
"Sometimes you have to be selfish." Smith grunted. She smiled a little. "Smith, I know you trust me now. You trusted me enough to give me yourself. I won't betray that. I promise I won't go telling the whole world how it was living with an Agent. I definitely won't tell anyone what you look like naked, or that you're a fantastic kisser, or...uhm...you're exceptionally endowed." She saw his hands begin to unclench. Gemini rolled to her side to see him more easily. "It would kind of ruin your badass reputation, wouldn't it?"  
  
Smith suppressed a smirk. 


	30. Uneven Poetry

Chapter Thirty-One: Uneven Poetry

Smith held her for a few more precious hours in bed. He watched her drift in and out of that state just before total slumber. She murmured endearments about his warmth and his scent, he purred something vague about pheromones. Both would try to deny the words later. But in the warm, dark world of her bed, Gemini could easily give them time. Meager though the control was, she felt victorious over the Matrix. Just for a while.

Dawn came late. Outside the rain continued to fall, refusing to give up its misty hold on the world. Gemini told Smith that her favorite color was purple. They watched the muted morning light illuminate her lavender comforter. She hoped his scent would stay in the fabric. Smith scrutinized several small moles on her body, most notably the one on the outer edge of her breast. This amused Gemini for some reason. It also touched her. Since she knew what Smith was, having him so interested in her body warmed her heart. For a short while, everything felt a little like poetry.

Gemini got dressed before breakfast. She asked Smith to wear casual clothes one more time. He insisted on choosing them himself, fashioning a red sweater and dark slacks from code. Gemini approved. Smith narrowed his eyes at her approval. She noticed that her stomach was no longer bruised. Smith took the shirt from her hands before she could put it on and ran his hands along the now unmarred skin. Gemini murmured encouragement.

Smith finally relinquished her shirt, only to follow close behind her as she did her morning routine. He followed her from the bedroom. In the hallway, Smith pressed Gemini against the wall with his body. He trapped her wrists against the pale yellow paint. Growled at her.

"Damn, Smith… it's like my ovaries clench when you growl at me. I love it."

He continued to rumble deep in his chest as he scraped his teeth against her throat. "Continue your vocalizations as well," he ordered.

"Mmmmmmm…"

"Yes…" His mouth methodically explored her neck. "Sensory decadence."

Her head ground against the wall, her leg hooked behind his. "Mmmm, Smith… let me show you decadence. Let me feed you Let me shower with you. Let me… mmmm… unnhh… massage?"

He leaned away far enough to see her face. It let her see the predatory gleam in his eyes. "Chocolate?"

Her eyes widened. "I thought you didn't like chocolate."

Smith looked thoughtful, a tiny frown showing between his brows. "The sensory input was… pleasant. The human need for ingestion… repulsed me. But…" He raised an eyebrow. "The input, Gemini, before I lose it… that is more important now. And that means…"

"Chocolate," she nodded, "and more. I think between the two of us, we can be very creative." Her mouth was not watering. No.

In the kitchen, she sat on his lap and fed him various fruits. She clutched handfuls of his sweater when he fed her bits of fruit in return through his kisses. The vocalizations continued, as did much grinding and fondling, to both partners' delight.

Gemini lapped a bit of strawberry juice from Smith's chin. "Which fruit is your favorite?"

"Grapes."

She laughed. "You know I could make a very naughty innuendo about that."

"I know."

"Arrogant bastard." But her words lacked venom.

"Irksome virus."

She laughed again, an almost giddy little giggle, and shifted slightly on his lap. "You know," she said, tracing the edge of his ear with a fingertip, "I have this fantasy…"

"What is it?"

"Oh, I can't tell. Part of the fantasy is that I don't have to tell you, you just know."

"That is illogical to an irritating extent. I cannot read minds."

"You can see my mind…"

"Gemini." He tried to sound reproving, but he was lost and they both knew it.

"Smith…" She reached out a hand to touch his face. She was alarmed when he seemed to flinch.

"Gemini, I…"

She laid a finger against his lips. For a moment, she was possessed of eternal wisdom. "I know." She stroked the surprisingly soft flesh of his mouth. "Don't think about what you want to say and can't. I've seen your mind too, and I know. I understand." She kissed him. "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

She rested her forehead against his. "It just seems important to say right now."

She felt him stroke the back of her head. "Gemini…"

She looked up at him. He seemed to be hesitating on a question. "Yes, Smith?"

He licked his lips to wet them, an odd gesture she hadn't seen him use before. Startled, she realized it was a human mannerism that he'd adopted. One of hers? She wondered if he even realized he'd done it. She'd ask him, but he would deny it, of course.

His fingers brushing her face brought her attention back to his question. "Do you love me, Gemini?" His face was carefully neutral.

Gemini's mind whirled. This was the last thing she expected. She'd admitted her feelings to him before; why did he feel a need to ask? Did Smith think she'd stopped loving him because they'd talked about Ephram? Did that mean her feelings mattered to Smith? He'd seemed to accept her professions of love with stoicism, like bad weather, until now. Was he prepared to show more was going on inside him?

Not taking her eyes from his, she managed to get out, "Yes. Yes, I do. I love you, Smith." Before she could stop herself, she blurted, "I've said so before. Why do you want to know again?"

His face became a mask of superiority. "Perhaps it 'seems important' to hear right now." He could be mocking her again, but there was something in his eyes. He did need to hear it.

She kissed the tip of his nose. "I do love you. I think loving you is one thing I've done totally without regret."

"You will lose me."

"Not for as long as I remember you."

"I will lose you."

Gemini hugged him fiercely, feeling her tears squeeze from between clenched eyelids and onto his sweater. "I wish I could do something about that." Smith grunted. "I do. I know I'm emotional, but don't mock my sincerity."

"I don't. Your sincerity is…" He paused. "I value your sincerity, Gemini."

Smith reached his hand up to her face and gently pulled her away from his chest until she was looking into his eyes. Again, she saw a strange sadness in them. He brought his thumb to her cheek and brushed her tears aside. Something in his eyes… she couldn't quite place it. It seemed to be fierce determination mixed with something else. Something entirely Smith. He smirked at her, but in a soft, almost gentle way. He leaned down and kissed her.

Somehow, despite his not saying a word, she felt better.

"Smith… you know this isn't completely…" She waved her hand in the air by way of describing what she didn't have words for. "This between us isn't just physical."

There was a flash of something in Smith's eyes, something akin to fear or even panic. Gemini wondered if anyone else would recognize it as such. Would he be more comfortable staying in the boundaries of physical? When his moment passed, Smith's voice was calm and even, with a hint of a smirk. "Of course, Gemini. We have many fascinating discussions. I even get occasional answers to my questions."

She smiled. "I like teasing you too, Smith."

Smith placed his hand on the back of her head to hold her so she would maintain eye contact. "Matching wits with a human isn't something I thought possible," he said.

"I'm glad proved you wrong, then."

Smith pretended to scowl. "You accuse me of arrogance?" His features softened, though his eyes stayed steely. "Gemini… keep my code. I will lose this…" He paused. "You shouldn't."

Gemini touched his face. "You know I will. Your code makes me… immune to reinsertion, right?"

Smith's arms tightened almost imperceptibly around her. He nodded.

Gemini laid her head against his shoulder. She sighed. "What should we do with this quiet time we have together?"

"You suggested a shower."

"Isn't it a bit soon for more sex?"

"No." Beneath her fingers, she felt Smith almost, almost chuckle. "A shower doesn't necessitate sex, does it?"

"Well, no…" Gemini frowned thoughtfully. "I do feel dirty." She grinned at Smith, stretching her arms above her head. "Care to observe a little human behavior?"

"Take care what you do while sitting on my lap, Gemini," he warned. "Unless you want more than a shower."

Gemini gasped. The program had learned innuendo.

He smirked. "Yes, I would care to observe human behavior…"

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "You can be a true voyeur. Watch me shower. It'll be cleansing, and bonding, and not just physically."

Smith appeared to consider this. "It's…important to you. Though I will forget it…yes. I want to know, Gemini. I want to see you."


	31. You Are Mine

Chapter 32: You Are Mine

Author's Note: The title for this chapter and several further chapters are lines taken from a song I learned at church. Lyrics and details about the song are at the end of this chapter. I think the words are very fitting for Smith and Gemini.

Smith observed Gemini undressing and noted she was trying to keep modest. To him it was unnecessary. They'd already been intimate, seen one another nude, so Smith had difficulty reasoning why Gemini tried to conceal herself now. However, he left her to her irrational humanity and simply watched.

The glass shower doors were an easy window through which to observe. Because of the damp, chilly weather outside, the bathroom harbored considerable steam. Smith had no difficulty seeing through it.

Gemini wasn't physically average for a human female. Her height was above average, and though she was slender, she had curves. Smith questioned himself as to why he still noticed this. Why did his attention remain on the movement of water as it impacted and ran from her skin? The motion of her musculature beneath that skin as she shampooed shouldn't appeal to him as much as it did. Smith's own residual self image had been patterned from the human form, but Gemini's form was different. Perhaps Smith simply hadn't interacted enough with females, and this human was still a curiosity.

She was turned away from him. That modesty bothered Smith. Before he did something about it, he observed her back for a while. Her scapulae moved as she washed. The warm water traveled in small rivulets along her sides and over her hips. The indentation along her waist schooled the water over her buttocks. That was an intriguing sight. The way her gluteals were rounded reminded him of how they fit beneath his hands. The way they fit in his palms as he pulled her against him. Briefly Smith searched his database and found considerable cultural importance on the human rear end. He was mildly surprised to find statistical evidence of how human females regarded the male buttocks when deciding attractiveness.

She turned to rinse her hair and he was provided a profile view. Smith could not account for the sudden surge in his systems. Her breasts were average in size, but beyond anything average to him. He was above the mammalian purpose for them and instead focused on the memory of how they felt naked against him. Whenever he thought of "soft" he would think of her.

This was his. She was his.

"Mine," he whispered into the steam-filled room.

She of course didn't hear. She turned again, and he could no longer stand passive. His need for her was immediate, so overwhelming that it disconcerted him. How had the logarithms and subroutines devoted to observation of this human become so overriding? So numerous. It was different than wanting her, which he had known as near-constant companion for a while; this was need. He needed her. Needed to touch her.

Smith stepped into the shower behind Gemini. She'd almost forgotten he was watching, so when he joined her she jumped a little.

"Gemini," his voice flowed over her, warm as the water. Again she felt reassured.

As his hands came around her waist, Gemini realized Smith was still clothed. Crazy machine.

"Mine," came the Agent's deep voice.

She shivered. Such a primitive assertion coming from a sophisticated machine, someone who prided himself on his superiority; that she could shake his reasoning so much made her feel powerful and wanton.

With great care, Smith took the soap from its small alcove and began to clean Gemini. He recalled her pleasured demands about his hands, and was gratified to hear her murmurs of "yes, Smith, ohhh…"

He kept his touches sensual but non-sexual. Only recently had he understood the distinction.

"Do you like how the water feels on your skin?" he asked.

"Yes," she whimpered. Something about him kept making her feel helpless. "If you took your clothes off, you could feel it too. It's better than the rain, Smith."

"Don't turn around," he instructed her as she moved to help him undress.

Smith let his hands follow the curves of Gemini's body as the shower water cleansed her. When the soap washed away, he kept his hands on her. As long as she allowed it, he would touch her.

When the spray began to run cool, Smith assisted Gemini out. He gently dried her. Altering the Matrix, he restored his clothing to dryness. Gemini stayed quiet as he gently dressed her. She appeared withdrawn. Usually when he showed care toward her, she would enthusiastically thank him.

Gemini privately reveled in Smith's gentle care, but she couldn't bring up the energy to show her thanks. She knew this would end. She would lose Smith and all this caring he showed her. Soon.

Smith calculated that it was near lunchtime. Perhaps Gemini needed food. After his need to touch her was a need for her happiness. He should be capable of providing it.

Smith attempted to lead Gemini to the kitchen and entice her with food. She responded very little. If she he couldn't improve her mood…what could he do?

For a being who thought in code, silence was akin to darkness. This could not continue.

You Are Mine

I will come to you in the silence,

I will lift you from all your fear.

You will hear my voice,

I claim you as my choice,

Be still and know I am here.

I am hope for all who are hopeless,

I am eyes for all who long to see.

In the shadows of the night,

I will be your light,

Come and rest in me.

Refrain

Do not be afraid,

I am with you.

I have called you each by name.

Come and follow me,

I will bring you home;

I love you and you are mine.

By David Haas


	32. I Will Come to You in the Silence

Chapter 33: I Will Come to You in the Silence

Smith pressed Gemini against the hallway wall. He used the human expression, "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" She struggled. "Let me go!"

"Something is wrong, Gemini," he insisted. He gripped her chin and forced her to look into his eyes.

She met his stare. Smith admired her stubborn strength. At the same time, he knew a need to master that strength with his own. Would she truly submit to him? She had mentioned an aroused response to his dominant nature. Holding her here in his arms, her body soft and female against his, he wanted to test her.

"Gemini," he growled, pressing harder against her, "I may have to coax an answer from you."

With determination, Smith secured Gemini with a hand to her chin and kissed her. When she groaned and began to embrace him, he held her by the wrists in a firm grip against the wall. Gemini gasped. He was confident that he would be able to discern if she wouldn't tolerate more.

Nipping at her lips, Smith convinced Gemini to open to him. He plied all of his orally minded skills to assaulting her mouth. Gemini began to whimper deep in her throat. Her sweet breath warmed the moist connection of their lips.

Smith forgot whatever answer he had wanted from Gemini; now he merely wanted her.

"Virus," he purred against her mouth. "You've insinuated yourself into me, until I can't be rid of you. Little human…" He stared down into her eyes, seeing them dilated, and smelled from her what could only be arousal as she gasped for sufficient air. "You are mine…"

Gemini closed her eyes and sighed. "Yours…"

Nudging her hair aside, Smith pressed his mouth to her neck. He reveled in feeling her groan vibrate against his lips. He felt the tendons in her wrists flex as she clenched and relaxed her fingers. Because he gave her minimal room to move, she was reduced to small squirming movements against him. Smith liked it.

"My Gemini."

She answered with a breathy, "Yes."

He kissed her again, using his grip on her wrists to slide her hands down to shoulder level. This time her whimper was different. Smith paused to look into her eyes once again. He didn't want to harm her. Did she understand? He wouldn't hurt her. She could tell him to stop at any point and he would. Smith had promised her before.

She met his gaze unflinchingly, with not a trace of fear. Was that trust? Or was it only a refusal to surrender, to show weakness? He knew which it would be if it were him, but -- as he found out increasingly -- Gemini was not him.

She leaned forward slightly, and brushed her lips against his. "Smith…" she whispered again, before bringing her eyes up to gaze into his. "I…am…yours." She gave him that look again, that utter fearlessness, and Smith's mind tried to understand how one could surrender completely and yet remain whole, strong, and unconquered.

He nodded. It satisfied him that she trusted him, even if that satisfaction confused him. "What did you say you wanted, Gemini?" Smith pressed his lips next to Gemini's ear. "Close your eyes…" he whispered.

Gemini obeyed, and Smith smirked at the goose bumps growing on her skin in anticipation. A great deal of human sexuality, he'd noticed, was in the mind, in expectations and extrapolations. That gave him an idea how to proceed.

Securing both her wrists in one hand, Smith ran the other along Gemini's body. He traced her curves, reveling in each soft contour as well as her vocalizations. He pulled slightly away from her in order to view this willing woman before him. Gemini's eyes remained closed, her lips parted, her form taut yet pliant, and Smith knew nothing but a desire…a need to possess her.

He slid his hand under the bottom of her shirt, and smirked again as he confirmed it was all she wore there. He didn't want to deal with a bra right now.

He felt Gemini moan as he slid his hand over her bare skin up to her breast. He paused, cupping it in his hand before running his thumb over the nipple. "Oh god, Smith!" Gemini cried.

Smith stilled his hand, grinning at her expression of pleasure. "You like this?" Gemini nodded, biting her lip. Smith succumbed to a sudden odd urge and kissed her, sliding his tongue smoothly into her mouth, garnering no resistance until he pulled away. "Good."

Gemini writhed against his grip on her hands. "Oh damn, Smith…need to touch you…"

"Why should I let you?" As he spoke, Smith stroked his hand away from her breast and flat against her stomach. He felt her muscles there twitch.

Gemini let out a moan that was almost a whine. "Smith…" she gasped, "please…"

"Open your eyes," Smith instructed. When Gemini finally focused on him, he smirked. "Say it again." He stepped fractionally closer to her.

"Please," Gemini whispered. "Let me touch you."

"Again, Gemini, I ask…why should I let you?"

"Because you want me to."

Smith nuzzled her. "Are you sure? Perhaps I just want to touch you. Do you want me to touch you, Gemini?"

"Y-yes." Gemini arched her neck against his nuzzling. "I want you to touch me everywhere, Smith. But I want to touch you, too. I want to give you pleasure." Turning her head, she tried to kiss him though he evaded her mouth. "Give you pleasure, Smith."

Smith looked at her evenly. "Do you," he said softly. His expression was unreadable.

Gemini blinked, suddenly doubting herself. Did Smith actually find her pleasurable? She wished she could see into his mind at this moment, but all she could do was stare up at him, her entire being laid exposed in her eyes, completely vulnerable to him.

She suddenly found herself being lifted as Smith gripped her behind and turned toward the bedroom. Gemini grasped his shoulders somewhat giddily, and she noticed Smith had no trouble navigating her hallways while keeping eye contact. That small trick reminded her how powerful he truly was. A human male would have stumbled at least once.

He smiled self-satisfactorily at her regard.

"Smith?"

"Gemini?" His voice was oddly tender.

"Smith, I…" She swallowed against a lump in her throat. "I need you. I trust you. I love you. If you don't want me to touch you…I won't."

Smith made no response, and Gemini was worried she'd offended him. He carried her into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed, then rested on top of her, pressing over her. He looked into her eyes. "Gemini," he said, his voice hushed, "I want you to touch me."

"Will you tell me where?"

His mouth twitched into an almost smile. "Everywhere," he whispered.

Gemini grinned in spite of herself. She had never felt quite so connected to anyone. She gratefully slid her hands under Smith's sweater and started to ease it off of him.

Smith vocalized his approval in that softly purring tone which made her insides clench.

"Oh god Smith, I want you inside me so badly…"

Smith stared down at her, obviously surprised. She blushed once she realized what she'd said, but soon Smith's eyes showed he wanted the same thing. Lifting her to her knees, he guided her hands to the buttons on the front of his shirt. "Undress me first," he said.

Gemini nodded, and kissed him gently on the lips while deftly working her way down to his fly, slowly unzipping it. Did she only imagine Smith's skin warming, his heart rate accelerating? Gemini hoped it was real, at least as real as symbolic manifestation of AI functions would be.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this, Smith," she said, reaching up to kiss his collarbone as she pulled his pants away. "I am."

"Gemini…mine…" He pulled her closer to press her palms flat over his bare chest. He kissed her again, rising taller than her even while on his knees. Again, delighted, she experienced his masculinity in how he strongly held her.

"Mmmmm, yours, Smith." She grinned at him, running her hands over his chest, enjoying the feel of him. "Yours to do with as you wish."

Smith paused a second before he again pressed her down onto her back. He didn't secure her hands again, so Gemini worked eagerly at his boxers. Somehow she was divested of her shirt in between frantic kisses. Smith seemed unable to keep from touching her breasts. She didn't complain.

"You have a very dominant personality," she said.

"It's part of my programming."

"It's part of why I love you. I still get that primitive thrill when I submit to you."

"Why?"

"It's…part of my programming. Submitting to a strong masculine presence, knowing you won't ever really hurt me." She shivered slightly in pleasure. "It just really arouses me."

"Should I test how much I can arouse you?"

She blinked. "You…you want to keep being dominant with me?"

"If you're willing…"

She smiled at him. That, she decided, was precisely why she could trust him. "For you, Smith," she said, "for you, I am willing."

Baring his teeth, Smith lowered his body fully on top of her.

Circuit blinked at the two from the doorway. She flicked an ear and sniffed silently at them. They were doing it again. How many kittens did they want?


	33. I Will Save You From All Your Fear

Chapter 34: I Will Save You From All Your Fear

"Your name," Gemini said. "It's more meaningful than a generic surname. You are Smith. You're my Smith. It's not just a syllable anymore.

"When you're around, I feel better. Your presence is important. Adding to that, your well-being is important to me. I want you nearby and healthy all the time. That's love."

"I won't…"

"I know you won't! That's why I keep crying, why I'm so angry. I'm going to lose you."

Smith frowned slightly. "That is inevitable. Why you should waste emotional energy fighting it is not logical."

"I thought you said you were going to fight it!"

"Would it achieve what you ultimately want?" He looked deeply at her. "No. Its inevitability is fixed."

"Good God, Smith. Not only are you a Nietzchean, you're a fatalist."

Smith merely raised one eyebrow a fraction of an inch. Their talks never seemed to follow the norm. He had inquired as to the usual subjects of pillow talk, received the usual vague answer from the Mainframe, and the usual frustrating answer from Gemini. After an exceptional lovemaking, they rose from the bed and ensconced themselves on her couch. Circuit wandered past a few times but left the people to their talking.

Gemini couldn't stop touching Smith. She couldn't stop holding him. He allowed it, if only to disguise the fact that he couldn't let her go either. He'd returned to his red sweater and slacks. The suit was not appropriate now.

For now, their mutual silence was not like darkness. Smith watched the cat stretch out in a beam of sunlight from the window. Finally he knew the importance of light. Not that knowing the importance now would serve much purpose, or even last long. Smith did not consider himself a fatalist in his thoughts, merely practical.

"Smith," Gemini murmured from her place ensconced in his embrace, "if I say 'I love you' enough times, will you remember it?"

"You know that's unlikely." He watched the cat as he spoke, "If you love something, let it go, Gemini. That's all I can offer."

Gemini gulped back a sob. "I know. But it's very, very hard to let go."

"Leaving is not my choice." There was a soft kind of resolve to his voice. Smith lifted her chin with a finger beneath it. "Gemini." His eyes stunned her. "I remain yours."

Later, Gemini would pride herself on not falling to emotional pieces. Somberly she stroked Smith's face before kissing him with as much tenderness as she could muster. "And I am yours, Smith. I didn't choose to fall in love with you. I chose not to regret it."

Smith kissed her again. "Mine, Gemini. Yours."

Quietly, Gemini rested back against him again. Their bodies fit even now in this fully clothed embrace. Gemini felt a kind of suspension in the moment, though she'd given up trying to slow time for them. The warmth of Smith as he reclined behind her on the couch comforted her.

"Smith…tell me a story."

She could hear his eyebrow arching at that. "That's an odd request," he said. But his voice sounded indulgent, and she only had to wait a short while before he spoke again: "I'll tell you of my first memory."

Gemini wove her fingers with his and closed her eyes to better savor his voice.

"I remember my activation," Smith told her. "The first sight to register in my receptors was a silver ceiling vent. I didn't know what it was, then." He paused. "I had no frame of reference."

Gemini squeezed his hand. "I was afraid that was how programs first woke up. It's not fair to have to wake up like that…no reference for anything. How terrifying!"

"The Mainframe isn't fair. It has no need for fairness."

"Defending your god again," Gemini said with a sigh.

"It isn't…"

"It's close enough to the machine God to count." Gemini nudged her head against his shoulder. "But I interrupted your story. Go on, Smith."

"I laid there, receiving sensory input for an undetermined time. I had no frame of reference for time, either."

"What was your first sense? Besides the view of the ceiling vent…"

Smith didn't answer right away. Gemini was about to tell him to forget it when he said, "Cold."

"Cold?"

"Through my suit I felt a metal table. It was cold. Hard. Later I learned those sensations were thought of as unpleasant."

"So when you say I'm soft and warm…?"

Smith remained silent at her prompt. But his silence answered for him.

Gemini sighed again. "I love you, Smith." She pulled his arms tighter around her middle.

There was a knock at the door.

It was Tyger.


End file.
